Lost Time
by Nix1978
Summary: Set 4 years in the future after the Doyle saga. Emily's been away and has a surprise for Morgan when she returns
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to anything

Lost Time

Morgan walked into the BAU….. It had been a long week and he was tired. He glanced over into the bull pen to where his desk used to be. He tried to stop himself doing that every day as it only reminded him of the agent who used to sit at the desk next to him. There were two new agents there now….. Stuart Farrell and Eva Jackson. They were part of his team. The team bore little resemblance to what it was four years ago. Only he and Garcia were left. Rossi had retired, Hotch got his promotion, Reid's brain was being used elsewhere in the Bureau and Emily, well she was gone too. Morgan often wished he hadn't accepted the position of Unit Chief and had moved on himself…..it never felt the same as back then, and there were too many memories.

Morgan sat in his office, leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. His mobile phone rang and he considered not answering it, fearing it was another case. When he saw the name 'Josh Mason' on his screen however, he quickly picked up.

"Mason?"

"Hey Morgan, how you doing?"

"Overworked and underpaid. What's new?"

"I thought you'd want to know straight away…..we got Doyle."

"Really? Where is he?"

"In the morgue Morgan. Shoot out with the local cops. 15 bullets in his chest."

"Good…..so what now?"

"Case closed. He's dead. It's over."

"What about Prentiss?"

"You'll have to speak with Ramirez about that. You know that side's nothing to do with me."

"Of course. Well thanks for letting me know."

"No problem. Take care Morgan."

Josh Mason had been the lead agent working with Interpol and the Russian authorities trying to locate Doyle after he went on the run. Morgan had kept in contact with him over the years…..at first every day and then less and less over time as hope ran out.

He dialled Ramirez immediately.

"Hello?" The agent on the other end of the phone said.

"Hi. It's Derek Morgan."

"Oh Derek. I'm guessing you've heard about Doyle already then?"

"Just now….what's happening now? With Emily I mean."

"C'mon man, you know I can't tell you anything."

"Is she ok? Can you at least tell me that?"

"Morgan, please don't push me on this. I know this must be frustrating for you but….."

Morgan didn't let him finish…"But he's dead now, he can't hurt her now right?"

"Yes….look all can say is that she knows he's dead. What happens next is up to her."

Morgan knew he was pushing it, but he couldn't help himself. Hearing this news just made him remember everything he tried to forget every day…

_4 years earlier….._

"_Hotch, she needs protection man. Doyle is dangerous. She can't stay on her own but she won't listen!" Morgan was almost shouting at his boss._

"_Morgan, I am here you know. You can speak to me!" Emily spat at him angrily._

"_I've tried that Emily, but you won't listen to me. There's no way you should be at home on your own!"_

"_I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself!"_

"_That's not the point Emily!"_

"_Stop speaking to me like I'm a child Morgan. I'm not a damsel in distress that you need to protect!"_

_Morgan took a deep breath, the anger rising in him, "Jesus Christ you're so god damn stubborn."_

_Emily went to answer him back, but Hotch quickly stepped in, "Ok that's enough, the whole building can hear you two! This isn't getting us anywhere….. Prentiss, Morgan is right, you shouldn't be on your own. Let Morgan stay with you just until we know you're safe."_

"_But…." She went to answer him back._

"_Two guns are better than one Emily." Rossi added._

_She looked at the three men who were all looking at her like a father looks at his disobedient child. She knew they were right but hated backing down to them…"Whatever!" and she turned and stormed out of the room._

_Rossi turned and smirked at Morgan…."You sure you know what you're letting yourself in for?"_

_Morgan let out a little laugh, "She'll calm down…..in a couple of months may be."_

_Morgan went back to his desk. Emily was sat at hers, head in paperwork. He knew he was pushing it but they needed to sort what they were going to do…."I think you should stop at mine you know? He's less likely to find you there."_

_She just shrugged her shoulders. He knew she was sulking at having to give in, so he didn't say anything else hoping she would calm down a little. The rest of the morning was very quiet in the bull pen. They didn't say a word to each other. Emily disappeared just before lunch time and came back after a short while and stood by his desk….."Morgan?" she said quietly._

"_Yes Emily" he replied without looking up at her._

_She pushed a chicken club sandwich on rye bread - his favourite – and a steaming cup of coffee under his nose….."Sorry for being such an ass Derek. I'm just….."_

_He looked up at her and gave a small smile, "Its ok. I know….. Thanks….. For this" he said pointing at the sandwich._

"_So, do you think your bachelor pad will cope with a female of the species moving in for a while?"_

_Morgan just laughed at her._

_The first night felt weird, but she was so exhausted, the minute her head hit the pillow in Morgan's spare bed, she fell asleep. She hadn't slept properly in days. Having him there made her feel safe. The next day they were off. She was so tired, she slept in late. When she finally woke up she jumped out of bed, knowing she had so much to do. She threw some jeans and a t-shirt on and went to Morgan's kitchen._

"_Morning sleepy head." He said with a grin._

"_Morning. How can you be so cheery in the mornings Morgan?"_

"_Dunno." He said shrugging his shoulders….."Always have been"_

"_Well I better be going."_

"_Where to? You haven't had breakfast yet."_

"_I need to speak with my old boss about this mess."_

"_Can't you give yourself a break?"_

"_No, not really. This isn't going away Derek."_

"_I know. Will you let me help? I can come with you."_

"_Derek, that's really kind of you, but there's nothing you can do. Apart from this of course. I'll be with my old team. I'll be ok."_

"_Ok, but promise me something?"_

"_Go on."_

"_Firstly, please don't take any stupid risks. Secondly, if there is anything I can do, don't be proud to ask and thirdly, you'll give yourself a couple of hours off tonight and let me get take out for us or something."_

_Emily smiled at him…. "Ok. I promise. I'll see you tonight."_

_That night, to his amazement, she actually stuck to her promise. As he said he would he got take out and some beers. He managed to take her mind off everything going on, or at least he thought he did until he caught the look on her face as he returned from the bathroom. He just caught her wipe a tear away from her cheek. As he walked back into the room she composed herself and put the 'strong and coping' mask back on._

_As he walked past her to sit on the sofa next to her he squeezed her shoulder and said "Hey, how you coping…..honestly?"_

_When he touched her she felt a shiver through her body, but a good one. One that made her feel safe. One that made her want to break down right there and then and tell him just how scared she really was. She shook her head and turned away from him….."Derek…..I can't…"_

_He heard her voice quiver. He shifted himself closer to her, but only slowly, watching her reaction closely as he did, not wanting to push it and scare her off. She didn't protest, so he put his arms around her. _

_At first she did not move, taking in the warmth of his body on hers. Then she turned her face to meet his and kissed him. He was surprised, but kissed her back. As he did he felt the slight taste of salt water as her tears ran down her face. He pulled away from her, but only by a couple of inches…"Emily, I don't want you to do this for the wrong reasons."_

"_Derek, right now I need this….I need you….please"_

_He didn't need anymore encouragement. He felt her hands creep under his shirt and gently stroke every inch of his chest. She pulled the shirt over his head and moved up to kiss him deeply on the mouth. As she did he picked her up and carried her to his bedroom…._

_Afterwards she lay sound asleep in his arms. He was still wide awake wandering why this was the first time this had ever happened…..He had never felt so close to anyone. He thought back to their lovemaking. It had been just that he thought – it wasn't frantic or desperate. It had been sweet and they had both taken their time savouring every inch of each other. _

_In the morning Morgan awoke as Emily shifted in his arms. She lifted her head off his chest and gave a very small and tired smile… "Morning." She whispered to him._

"_Morning Emily." _

_He had worried this moment would be awkward and dreaded her scurrying away and regretting it, but it didn't feel that way at all. He became very aware of their nakedness… their bodies hadn't parted all night and it felt like it fit just right. _

_They were both back to work that day and were stood in the bullpen with Rossi and Hotch speaking about an old case that was due in court soon. A voice made them all turn suddenly._

"_Emily!" It was her old boss, Clyde._

"_What are you doing here?" She asked, looking surprised to see him._

"_There's been some developments. You have come with me now."_

"_Why?"_

"_You know what we talked about yesterday? Well it's got to happen now."_

"_Right now?"_

"_Yes this second. Flight leaves in an hour. We've got no time."_

"_Prentiss, what's he talking about?" Hotch asked_

_Emily looked at her Clyde, not knowing what to say._

"_She has to go away for a while. I can't say anymore than that." Clyde told Hotch._

"_What do you mean, away?" Morgan interrupted._

_Clyde ignored him…."Emily, I mean it. We have to go… now."_

"_But I need to say goodbye…."_

"_No time" and he shook his head at her._

_She looked to the three men in front of her…..tears starting to well…"Where are Reid and Garcia?"_

"_They went out to get some lunch." Rossi told her._

"_I need more time." She pleaded to her boss._

"_No. This is not negotiable."_

_Morgan took at step toward Clyde not liking the way he was ordering her about…."Look if she doesn't want to go, you can't make her right?"_

_Clyde stared Morgan in the eye…."Look, no disrespect, but you have no idea what you are talking about."_

"_Ok ok…" Emily said sensing this was going to end badly….."I'm coming."_

_She turned to her three friends…."I'm sorry I can't explain right now, but I do have to go. Hopefully I'll see you real soon."_

"_Hopefully? But where….." Morgan asked but stopped mid sentence as she shook her head and he knew he was getting no answers._

_Emily walked over to Rossi and gave him a small peck on the cheek and a hug….."Take care Emily." Rossi said._

"_Please tell Reid and Garcia I'm so so sorry I didn't see them before I left."_

_Rossi nodded._

_She then stood in front of Hotch who really didn't know how to handle this situation. All he could think was back to Hayley. "Bye Hotch…." And she touched his arm._

_She then moved to stand in front of Morgan who was looking down at the floor with a pained expression. She had tears streaming down her face. She took him into a hug and kissed him on the cheek. She then moved her mouth close to his ear and whispered, "I want you to know that last night meant the world to me. You are a wonderful man and I l…"_

_Her sentence was broken as he felt her body leaving his. She was being pulled away…"That's it Emily time up."_

_Morgan had hold of her hands for as long as he could. He looked into her eyes and as their hands separated she mouthed 'I'm sorry' to him….that was the last time he saw her._

He had played that moment over and over in his mind, willing her to finish that sentence. The team had tried to get answers, but they never came and secretly they had all given up hope of ever seeing her again as the time passed and Doyle remained at large. All they knew was that she was in witness protection and they all knew the system well enough to know they would probably never get any answers.

_A few days later…._

Emily stood in front of Quantico. She stood and stared for a while. She never thought she would be back here. She wandered if she was doing the right thing coming back. Had too much time passed? But she really had no choice.

She walked out of the elevator and saw the doors to the bullpen in front of her. It really hadn't changed at all. She took a few deep breaths and opened the glass doors looking straight over to her old desk. Sat there were two unfamiliar faces. She walked over to them and said, "Excuse me, where is Agent Morgan?"

"Oh, he's up there." And the male agent pointed up to Hotch's old office….. "Do you want me to let him know you're here? Is he expecting you?"

"No it's fine. I'll just go up. Thanks."

She slowly walked up the stairs and along the platform to the door which was open. Her hands were shaking as she gave a little knock.

"Come in" she heard him say. As she walked in she could see he hadn't looked up to see who it was.

"Hey." She said softly.

Morgan's eyes shot up at her. His eyes widened as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing…. "Emily? What….?"

"I'm sorry I didn't call ahead. I just didn't know what to say. I guess I thought I would when I got here."

Morgan stood up and moved around to stand in front of her. "I heard about Doyle, but I didn't know if you'd come back. No one would tell me anything." There was nothing else he could do other than take her into a hug. He needed to know she was real.

He was hugging her so tightly she could barely breathe, but it felt good…."Derek, it's really good to see you." and she kissed him on his cheek just as she had the day she left.

He pulled out of the embrace….."Sit down. I'll get you a drink." And he quickly walked out of the room. She knew that he probably needed a couple of minutes to compose himself.

He came back in, handed her the drink and sat down next to her. She looked really well he thought. She hadn't changed much. Her hair was a little longer and her fringe had gone. It reminded him of when she first joined the team…..fresh faced.

"Congratulations Derek, on this I mean." Looking around his office.

"Thanks…..so are you ok?"

"I'm good Derek. Especially now Doyle is dead. But I've been fine the last few years. I've been well looked after."

"I tried to find out about what happened to you, but there was just one wall of silence."

"I know and I'm sorry about that, I truly am. That was not how I wanted it to be."

"So tell me all what happened then."

"I will, but there's something I need to tell you first. It's really important."

"What?"

"Before I tell you Derek, I want you to know that I never wanted to keep this from you. I pleaded with Ramirez to find a way of telling you, but he wouldn't budge. I really had no choice."

"What is it Emily? Tell me."

"When I left here that day… I was pregnant….. Obviously I didn't know at the time and I didn't find out for some time after that, but I was…."

Morgan stared at her. Trying to process what she had just said.

"Derek?"

"What are you saying? I mean what happened?"

She looked into his eyes and said gently, "You've got a son Derek. He's three years old."

**To be continued….**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to anything**

Lost Time

Chapter 2

Morgan just stared at her and slightly shook his head, not being able to believe what he was hearing.

"Derek, I am truly sorry that you didn't know about him. Ramirez said I would be putting him danger if we let you know. You do get that right?"

"Where is he?" Derek asked, only just being able to get the words out.

"He's with my parents."

Derek gave a little frown, "Did they know?"

"No, no-on did. The only people who knew were me and Ramirez. That's it. I promise you."

"What's his name?"

"Dillon… Dillon Joseph….."

Joseph was Morgan's father's name….."You remembered my father's name?"

"Of course I did Derek."

"Can I see him?"

"Of course. That's why I'm here."

"Ok let's go."

"What. You want to go now?"

"Yes, is that a problem?"

"No, I just thought you might want some time to get your head around it. But we'll go at your pace Derek, anything you want…..although I should have known your pace would be lightening speed." And she gave a small laugh, trying to lighten the mood a little. She couldn't quite tell whether he was mad with her or not.

He did respond with a small smile, which was quickly cut off by his mobile phone ringing. He looked at the screen and cancelled the call.

"Can we go now Emily?"

"Sure, but I'm driving…."

He didn't argue.

They had been driving for a while. They had managed some very strained small talk about the team, but the tension was thick. She suddenly pulled over on to the parking lot of a café.

"Why have you stopped?"

"I think maybe we should get a coffee before we do this. Just so you're prepared. This is a huge deal for Dillon too and you need to be in the right frame of mind."

He didn't respond and just got out of the car and walked with her into the café.

She sat down opposite him, just as she had so many times before, on or after a case. She handed him his coffee…..she still knew exactly how he liked it.

"Derek, I just need to prepare you for the fact that when you meet him, he may call you daddy."

Morgan just looked at her confused, so she continued.

"I have always let him know who you are. He has a picture of you by his bed and I told him all about you…..well apart from the FBI bit. I don't know if he'll recognise you from the photo, but I wanted to prepare you just in case. He knows you're his daddy."

"Where does he think I've been all this time?"

"I told him you were working real hard and that you didn't get any breaks. It's washed so far, but obviously that story would have run out of steam when he gets older. I was praying that it would never get that far."

Morgan's mobile went off again. He did exactly the same as before…..looked at the screen and cancelled the call.

"Derek…are you mad with me?"

Morgan looked her straight in the eyes. His eyes seemed to soften the more he looked at her….."No Emily, I'm not mad with you. I know what you did was for the best. For him. I'm just mad that I have missed out on all this for four years. All because of that bastard Doyle."

"I know. You don't have to miss out anymore though, come on."

They pulled onto the driveway of her parents' house. It was pretty impressive, but nothing he didn't expect from an Ambassador's home. Emily opened the front door to be met by both of her parents. Her father walked up to Morgan and held his hand out, "Derek, it's good to see you."

"You too sir." Morgan said as he shook his hand, the older man giving him a reassuring nod, understanding that Morgan's life had just been turned upside down.

Morgan had kept in contact with Emily's parents over the years. Obviously they were as much interested in the investigation as he had been.

"Mom, where is he?"

"He's in the garden playing…..we're going to go out for a couple of hours and leave you two to it. If you need anything just call."

"Ok, thanks."

Emily's father could see the fear on Morgan's face. As he went to leave he put his hand on Morgan's shoulder, "He's a great kid, it'll be fine." And walked out of the front door with his wife.

Emily turned to look at Morgan….."Ok, you ready?"

"Can you ever be? For something like this I mean."

"No, I guess not. I was petrified for the first year, after that you get slightly less petrified." And she laughed…. "C'mon." She took hold of his hand and led him to the kitchen. It had patio doors that looked out into the garden. She stopped at the glass and let Morgan take in the sight.

He looked out and saw the back of a little boy, bending over to pick up a stick. He then saw the golden retriever that he was playing with. The child threw the stick and the dog obediently fetched it and returned it to the boy. He then turned around looking for something and that's when Morgan saw his child's face for the first time. He was the image of himself. His skin was tanned, but much lighter than his own…. a beautiful shade. He had big brown eyes and short dark hair…he looked perfect.

Morgan then became aware that as he was staring at the child, Emily was staring at him.

He turned to look at her….."He's amazing Emily."

"Yeah, well half of that is down to you."

"You've bought him up though."

"I know, but he definitely is like you….. I guess we can have the whole 'nature vs nurture' debate another day."

"Earlier…. You never said what his surname was."

"Well right now it's Carter. That was our name in witness protection, but obviously I'll be changing that."

"Oh right….errr….what will you be changing it to?"

Emily smiled at him "He's a Morgan. There's no doubting that…. if that's ok with you?"

"Of course it is"

"Good, now let's go say hello."

Just as they went to walk away, his phone rang again. He looked at the screen.

"You can answer it you know? Whoever she is really wants to speak to you." Emily said, hating the thought that it was another woman…but what right did she have to be jealous?

"No, it's no-one important." He responded and cancelled the call again.

Emily opened the patio doors and Morgan followed her outside. He felt the nerves rise in his chest.

As she walked out, the boy noticed her straight away.

"Mommy!" and he ran over to her and hugged her legs…"Look. Me and Chester are playing. I showed him how to fetch!"

"Wow, that's amazing. You can show me in a minute sweetie…..someone's come to see you first though."

The boy poked his head around Emily's legs, noticing Morgan for the first time. He took hold of Emily's hand and leaned into her, staring at the man in front of him.

Emily squeezed the boy's hand…."Dillon, do you know who this is?"

Dillon nodded his head, still staring at Morgan. Morgan didn't know what to do and Emily could tell so she crouched down next to her son and whispered to him, "It's ok sweetie, you can go and say hi if you want to."

Dillon nodded his head and started to walk towards Morgan, not letting go of Emily's hand. He walked to stand in front of Morgan. Morgan crouched down so he was at Dillon's eye level.

"Hey buddy." Morgan said gently.

"Hi daddy."

Morgan's heart melted at that point. He had never met this child or knew he existed, but knew that he had always loved him and always would.

Dillon leaned his head to one side, as if he were studying Morgan's face…"Have they let you have a break from work daddy?"

Morgan gave a little laugh, "Yes they have. I can have lots of breaks from now on."

"Good, because me and mommy missed you."

"I missed you too buddy."

Although Dillon was the image of himself, he could definitely see he had Emily's eyes. Big, brown orbs staring at him, all consuming just as she was.

Morgan looked up to Emily and gave a little smile. She had tears streaming down her face. He didn't think she'd noticed though.

"So, you want to show me how Chester can fetch then?"

"Uh huh". Dillon replied with a grin. Dillon turned around and ran to Chester who was lay on the lawn taking a break…"C'mon daddy!" he shouted as he ran away.

Morgan stood up so he was in front of Emily, "Thank you. You have done an incredible job with him."

Emily was trying really hard to not start sobbing, so she just waved him away, "Go on Derek, go play with him." And she gave him sweet smile through her tears.

**OK, sorry about the short chapter, but I wanted Morgan to meet his son!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to anything**

Lost Time

Chapter 3

Emily watched from the kitchen window as Derek played with their son. She wanted to give them some alone time so busied herself making cookies and cleaning everything in the kitchen! Every so often, she found her self just staring though. Derek was just as handsome as she remembered and she loved seeing that toothy grin again.

She watched Dillon as he stared at Derek intently, probably amazed at the fact he was looking at someone who looked just like himself….. _that_ she knew, he had never experienced.

After an hour or so had passed Emily took out a tray of sandwiches, cookies and milk and set them down on the garden bench….. "Dillon, come and get something to eat sweetie."

The little boy sprinted over, ran into her legs and leant his head on her knees, out of breath from all the running around with Derek and Chester. He looked up at her and gave a big grin…. She knew he was happy.

Derek watched Emily give Dillon a small plate with the sandwiches on, which were cut into triangles with no crusts. He smiled inside seeing a completely different side of her. Sure, she had always had a sweet and caring side to her when they weren't locking up the bad guys, but this was different. This was motherhood.

Emily looked up at Derek…. "Is this ok?" signalling towards the food…. "Do you want me to get you something else to drink?"

He sat down on the bench opposite Emily and Dillon….. "No this is fine."

"So, you have fun playing with daddy sweetie?"

Having a mouth full of food, Dillon just nodded his head frantically.

Emily let out a little laugh and looked up to see Derek with the same look on his face. They exchanged a look of understanding. They both knew that this moment was precious…. That they had created something incredible. The moment was quickly cut short however when Emily's parents walked towards them.

After some small talk Emily spotted Derek looking at his watch…. "Do you need to go? It's fine. I can drive you back if you like?"

"I do…. I'm sorry. It's work."

He saw what he thought was a little look of disappointment in her face but he wasn't sure.

"No don't be sorry. Of course….Dillon, come and say goodbye."

He jumped off his chair and hugged Derek's legs….. "Bye daddy."

Derek put his hand on his son's head…."Bye buddy. We'll play together real soon ok?"

The boy nodded and ran off to play with Chester…..

As they drove, Emily shifted a little in her seat..…. "Derek. I know your head is probably spinning right now, but I want you to know that there's no pressure here. I mean, I don't expect anything from you."

Derek's face turned from happy to a frown…."You don't expect anything from me?" She could here a hint of hurt in his voice.

"What I mean is….. well I mean I've just walked into your life after four years with _our_ son. A son you never knew you had. I have no idea what's going on in your life, so I didn't come here with the illusion everything would just fall into place."

"Do you think anything would stop me from being a father to my son?"

"No. I didn't mean that. One thing I do know is that you will do absolutely the right thing for Dillon….no question….." Emily took a deep breath…."Oh god I'm screwing this up aren't I?"

"I just don't understand what you mean."

"I mean we'll go at your pace Derek."

The mood was interrupted by Derek's phone again. He didn't even bother to look at it this time and let it ring out. As it did, he saw Emily shift awkwardly.

Derek wanted to make sure this conversation ended ok….he softened his voice, "What are your plans this weekend? We've got a lot to talk about. Do you think your parents would watch Dillon tomorrow for a couple of hours?"

"I'm sure they'd love to."

"Ok, I'll pick you up at twelve tomorrow."

Emily bought the car to a stop outside Quantico and waited for Derek to get out, but he stalled. …."It's really good to see you Em." And he leant over to give her a sweet kiss on the cheek….. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She smiled back at him…. "Yeah tomorrow."

Emily spent the morning running round after Dillon trying to subdue the butterflies having a party in her stomach in anticipation of spending the next few hours with Derek. Right on cue, the doorbell rang. Before Emily could move, Dillon ran past her towards the front door.

"Daddy!" he shouted at the closed door.

Emily laughed as she walked up to the door and opened it.

"Daddy!"

"Hey buddy, I could here you from all he way down the hall."

"C'mon, I want to play soldiers!" The boy said tugging at Derek's hand.

"Soldiers?" Derek said with raised eyebrows, looking at Emily.

She shrugged…"They play it at nursery"

Derek crouched down, "Dillon, I've got to go with mommy….."

That was the first time he had called her mommy and it made her feel funny inside…... a good kind of funny.

"…..We've got to do some stuff."

"Can I come too?"

Emily went to speak but Derek had it covered…"Not today, we've got grown up stuff to do. You'll be bored. It'll be much more fun staying here to play with Chester. I'll play with you when we get back…. Is that a deal?"

"I guess." The boy said disappointed.

"Here…." Derek held out his hand. Dillon grabbed it and shook hard, his tiny hand dwarfed by Derek's.

"Ok sweetie, go out in the garden with nanny and granddad. I'll see you later ok?" Emily said as she bent down to give him a kiss.

Derek waited in the car as Emily got her purse. He watched as she walked out of the front door towards his car. He couldn't get over the fact that she looked so good. He didn't think it was possible, but she looked better than he remembered. Motherhood obviously agreed with her. She was carrying a large box….

"What's that?" he asked as she slid into the passenger seat.

"I'll show you in a bit. Patience Derek…So, where we going?"

"I know this place…. down by the river." He smiled at her.

She knew exactly where he meant. He had taken her there once before after a tough few days on a case….. How their lives had changed since then.

It was a beautiful summer's day and they sat at a table outside. Derek bought over some coffees and winked at Emily as he sat down. She gave a little embarrassed laugh back and then gazed downwards. She looked nervous.

"So, what happens next Emily?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you moving back here?"

"Yes, that's the plan. I've got stuff to sort in Canada. We'll have to go back for a few weeks to tie up loose ends, but then we'll be back. I've started looking for places here."

"Good." He said with a smile. "What about work?"

"In theory the FBI still employ me. I never quit and they didn't sack me. They just stopped paying me. They said that if I pass the relevant tests I can come back, but I'm not sure about that."

"Why?"

"It kind of depends on you."

"Me? Why?"

"Well, whatever arrangement we come up with it needs to suit us both."

"Arrangement? You make it sound like a business deal."

"Jesus Derek, you're not making this easy for me are you? I'm trying to make this as easy for you as possible. Please believe me."

Derek felt a pang of guilt, knowing he was being over sensitive.

"I know Em. I'm sorry. This is fresh ground for me too you know?"

She nodded…."So, tell me what's happening with you then…..apart from all this of course."

Shrugging his shoulders…."Nothing much. Working hard. You know what it's like in the BAU."

She took a deep breath….."So are you going to tell me about her then or do I have to beat it out of you?"

Derek looked uncomfortable.

She leant forward….."Derek, it's ok. You are entitled to a life you know?"

He remained silent and suddenly looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"I'm sorry. Have I said something wrong?" she said softly.

He looked her in the eyes….he looked so sad.

"Derek, what's wrong?"

He took a deep breath….."Emily, when you left it killed me. It took me months to stop obsessing over finding Doyle. It consumed me and bit by bit the team started to dissolve. Hotch left, then Rossi. I felt lost. I met Stephanie…."

Emily felt a bolt of pain in her chest hearing the woman's name.

"….and she was sweet and kind. I don't know, it was just simple and it took my mind off things….. for a while anyway."

"Are you happy?" she whispered, not sure whether she wanted to hear the answer.

He stared at her for a few seconds… "I thought I was ok until I laid eyes on you again. She doesn't make me feel the way you did…the way you do."

Emily fought to keep it together. They had never really spoken about their feelings for one another….. there had been knowing glances, unspoken acts of affection, and of course the night they spent together before she left, but this was new territory.

"Derek, I'm sorry for the way I left. I wanted to say so much to you, but I couldn't…..this is all a mess….."

She waited for him to respond, but he didn't.

"….Ok, may be we shouldn't talk about his stuff now. We need to concentrate on Dillon right?"

"Of course" he said quietly.

Emily reached down and put the box she had bought with her on the table….."I know this won't make up for lost time Derek, but I saved lots of things for you from when Dillon was born…there's clothes, pictures, videos, toys…..that sort of stuff. If you'd like I can tell you his whole story up until now."

His face softened and he leant forward with a sweet smile on his face…"I'd like that."

She talked him through from the moment she found out she was pregnant, right up until a few days ago. He found out his son's favourite food was spaghetti bolognaise and his favourite sport was soccer because the older boy next door played. The toy he played with the most was a police car, but he liked playing with all sorts of toy cars and trucks. Emily told Derek the story behind every photo in the album. On one of the first pages was a small lock of hair fixed to the page from when Dillon was a few weeks old. There was a small blanket and a little baby grow that Dillon had worn the day he was born and all other bits and pieces she had collected for him over Dillon's shirt life.

Before they knew it three hours had passed…. "Oh my god Derek, have you seen the time?"

"No….. I didn't notice. I was enjoying myself…." And he gave a small, contemplative smile.

"We should probably make a move if you're going to play with him for a bit….you know he won't forget your promise don't you?"

"Emily, if he's anything like you, I know he won't forget anything…_ever_."

And they both laughed as they got up to walk to the car.

The journey back to Emily's parents house was pretty quiet…..neither of them knowing quite what to say to each other. Small talk was difficult with so much other stuff going on around them. They could both feel the tension…and it wasn't because of Dillon. It was because of everything that was unsaid between each other. Eventually Emily broke the silence, "Derek? I was wandering… have you told anyone about Dillon yet?"

"Errrr no and that's not because I don't want to. It's just all happened so quick I hadn't even thought about it."

"I'd kind of like to see everyone before we go back to Canada, you know Garcia, JJ….well everyone really. Do you mind?"

"Of course not. I can't wait to introduce the little fella. I'll come with you if you like. It's been too long since I've seen them all for a while myself….So when are you going back to Canada?"

"In a few days."

"Really? That soon?" She could hear the disappointment in his voice.

"It's ok Derek. We are coming back. I told you."

"I know, it's just… you've _just _come back and I…." His words were strained and he didn't finish the sentence.

She didn't know what to say back to him to make him feel better.

Derek pulled the car to a stop on the driveway. As Emily was about to open the door he stopped her by putting his hand on hers…."Em, about Stephanie….."

"It's ok Derek you don't have to explain anything to me. You don't owe me anything." She said turning to face him.

"I know, but I want you to know… she doesn't…" He rubbed his temple with a pained expression.

Emily leaned in towards him…."shhhh" she whispered as she gently kissed him on the cheek…. "It's ok. This will all sort itself out one way or another. Let's not put pressure on ok? We just need to concentrate on that little boy in there for now. May be things will be clearer when we get back from Canada. When you've had time to take this all in."

Derek responded just by nodding his head, not convinced by what she had just said.

_Thanks for reading, reviewing and alerting etc….. I'd like to introduce the rest of the team back in to the next chapter and see how the problem of 'Stephanie' pans out. May be we will even meet her?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to anything**

Lost Time

Chapter 4

As Emily walked down the corridor with Dillon holding her hand and Derek behind her, she could hear the squeals of Garcia before she could see her. As soon as she had heard about Emily's return and the existence of a miniature Morgan, Garcia had hounded Derek until he bought them both in to see her before they saw everyone else. Emily was surprised at the fact that Derek was ok with this…..after all, as soon as everyone saw the little boy, they would know he was Derek's.

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god!" Garcia couldn't get the words out quick enough as she tottered towards them down the corridor, her stilettos slowing her down. She hugged Emily so tight she thought she would burst.

"Hey Pen, it's so good to see you."

"Oh Emily, I can't believe you're back…" She looked down at the little angel staring up at her, completely mesmerised by the techie… "Emily, he's gorgeous… I didn't think it was possible for a human being to be more perfect than Derek Morgan….." Garcia knelt down in front of Dillon…."but you young man are actually perfection personified."

Dillon looked up at Emily, "Mommy, is she ok?"

Emily couldn't help but laugh…."Sweetie, this is Aunty Penelope. She's a really good friend of your daddy…. and me. Say hi."

"Hi Aunty P'nelope."

"Hey little prince, I've got some goodies for you. Wanna come see?"

Dillon looked up at Emily for her approval and she nodded…. "Not too many E numbers Garcia."

They were all sat in Garcia's office and Dillon was exploring….it was like an Aladdin's cave, with all of Garcia's little nik naks.

"I'm going to introduce this one to a few people." Derek said taking hold of his son's hand and guiding him out of the room.

"So, I've sorted it all out Em… everyone's coming to my place tonight"

"I can't wait to see everyone... Pen thanks for doing all of this…..I just wanted to tell you how sorry I was that I didn't say goodbye."

"Hey, that doesn't matter now, I know you had no choice. Anyway, I'm more annoyed with you for not telling me about you and that hunk of burning love out there."

"There was nothing to tell Pen. It only happened once and that was obviously right before I left… there was no time to fill you in on all the gory details."

"Well, it should have been obvious really. Everyone was gutted when you left, but he was broken. I knew he was always in love with you anyway. I should hate you really." She said winking to her friend.

"Don't be ridiculous Garcia…"

The conversation was cut short when there was a knock at the door. Agent Farrell poked his head round….."Garcia, do you know where Morgan is?"

"Not sure. He went off to see a few people."

"Oh right. Stephanie's here. I'll send her down here to wait for him."

Before Garcia could say anything, Farrell had gone.

Garcia looked at Emily cautiously…. "It' ok Pen. I know about her. But I'm not sure she knows about me…..or Dillon. This could be awkward."

The door then opened and in walked a dark haired woman. She was pretty, probably a couple of inches shorter than Emily, with tanned skin.

"Hi Penelope….." the woman began….."Sorry to intrude like this. I was just after Derek. Do you know where he is?" She had a soft voice Emily thought… very 'sweet'.

"I'm not sure. He had to go to see some people." Garcia responded. Emily knew she hated having to lie…although it wasn't really a lie, just a bending of the truth.

"Oh, it's just he hasn't been answering his phone. I thought may be he had a case or something."

"Errr, no. I mean he is really busy at the moment." Garcia said trying to make the poor woman feel better.

Stephanie turned to Emily as if she'd just noticed her…."Hi. I don't think we've met. Are you new here?"

"No….I used to work here a few years ago. I'm just visiting."

"Oh right, well I'm Stephanie." And she held out her hand for Emily to shake.

As awkward as she felt, Emily took her hand….."Emily." She replied. As she did she saw the expression on Stephanie's face change slightly. She was almost frowning, but trying hard not to show it.

"I think Derek's mentioned you before…. How long have you been back?"

Emily could tell straight away that this woman was beginning to join the dots. She may be sweet, but she wasn't stupid.

"Oh, erm…. A few days."

"Right, well I better be off if you don't know when he'll be back. Tell him I came by. I'll catch up with him later…at his place." He words were a little more harsh, certainly not soft anymore. Emily wondered if that last statement was intended for her, to let her know that he was hers.

After Stephanie had walked out, Emily turned to her friend, "Sorry Pen."

"Hey it's fine…..I'm too thrilled to have you back and to have a new little playmate to care." And she gave Emily another hug.

"Do I get to get in on this action?" Derek startled them as he walked in with Dillon.

Both women turned and stared at him….

"What?" He asked, feeling like he had something alien growing out of his head the way the two women were looking at him.

"Errr Derek….." Garcia started…"Stephanie came by."

"What she was here?"

"Yes _right_ here …..she says she'll catch up with you later….at _your_ place."

Derek looked at Emily with sorry eyes…."I errr, well I better give her a ring."

Trying her best to ignore the current situation, Emily got up and put out her hand to the little boy…."Dillon, come on sweetie, we better get going. Daddy and Penelope have to work now."

"Oh, but I want to play with Aunty Penelope some more mommy."

"You'll be able to tonight. We're going her place and it's way more fantastic than this office."

"Really?" He squealed in excitement.

Emily stood up and took of Dillon's hand. Derek stood in front of her…."I'll pick you up later to go to Pen's. Ok?"

"Derek, if it's going to cause you a problem it's fine. I can drive."

"No, I'll be there at six." It was definitely a statement and not an offer.

"Ok, I'll see you later….Dillon give daddy and Aunty Penelope a kiss goodbye."

As Emily left the room, Garcia looked at Derek and raised her eyebrows.

"Don't look at me like that Penelope."

"Why haven't you told Stephanie about Emily and Dillon? She's not just going to go away you know?"

"Yes I'm well aware of that."

"Well….." He cut her off by putting a finger to her lips.

"Not another word Garcia…I'll deal with this my own way ok?" and he turned to walk away.

"Oh by the way Derek…."

"What?"

"Dillon's amazing… and I'm glad _she's_ back too." And she gave him a massive Garcia smile and winked at him. He smiled back and carried on walking out of the room.

Everyone waited at Penelope's place, excited to see Emily. Somehow, she had managed to convince Derek and Emily to keep Dillon a secret from them all. She loved surprises and couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces as the three of them walked through the door.

JJ was there with Henry, Spencer, Rossi and Hotch.

Outside, they sat in the car…."Oh god Derek, I've suddenly gone all shaky. I'm really nervous."

He took hold of her hand. "Why on earth would you be nervous? These are our friends."

"I know it's just…oh I'm being silly. Let's go."

Garcia was looking out of her window…."Oooh they're here guys."

They were all pleased they were going to see Emily for the first time in four years, but Garcia was acting strange, even for Garcia. She opened the front door and signalled for Derek to stay outside with Dillon…both Derek and Emily rolled their eyes in unison but went along with Garcia's little game. Emily slowly walked in the front door feeling like she was about to be paraded about by Garcia like a piece of meat at a farmer's market. She was greeted by big smiles from all of her old friends.

JJ was the first to wrap her friend in a big hug…."God Emily, it's so good to see you."

"You too JJ."

It was interrupted by Garcia pulling them apart.

"What the….." JJ started

"Guys, there's someone else to come yet." Garcia squealed.

"Yeah, where is Morgan?" Reid asked oblivious.

"Derek!" Garcia shouted.

They were all watching the door expecting to see Morgan's 6'3" frame walk in. Instead, all eyes moved down to see a beautiful little boy cautiously walking in. He surveyed the room and saw his mother and quickly walked over to her and nestled into her legs, overwhelmed by all the strangers in the room. Emily, lovingly put a hand on his head to let him know he was safe.

JJ gasped…"Oh my god."

Garcia clapped her hands in excitement as Derek walked in. Rossi, Reid and Hotch turned to look at him, mouths hung open. JJ's eyes were firmly fixed on the boy and for a few seconds everyone appeared lost for words.

Feeling like she had a thousand eyes staring at her now, Emily broke the silence…"Guys, this is Dillon…. Dillon, say hi to everyone."

Dillon looked at his mom and then buried his face in her legs…"He's just a bit shy. He's had to meet a lot of new people recently."

"Emily, he's gorgeous….how….." JJ couldn't get her words out.

Hotch walked over to Derek and held out his hand, "Congratulation Morgan….although right now I'm very confused as to how you managed this one. I guess it'll be a conversation for later."

"Thanks man" Derek replied with a smile. He looked over to Reid who just looked confused.

"You ok Reid?" Derek asked him.

"How…?" Derek gave him a playful tap around the back of his head.

"C'mon now. We had the birds and bees talk didn't we?" and the room laughed.

Everything settled down and they all said their hellos to Emily and Dillon. It wasn't long before it felt like they'd never been apart.

Emily went into the kitchen to make a drink and JJ followed behind her. As Emily was at the counter she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and found JJ in front of her. JJ took her friend into a big hug, "Em I missed you so much."  
Emily forgot how sweet JJ smelt, how warm her hugs felt and what a real friend she had been back then. She remembered what a strong, yet still soft and feminine woman she was. They had shared a special bond back then, knowing how it felt as a woman to see the horrific things they saw day in day out. She wished JJ had been there when she found out she was pregnant. She was petrified at the time, and knew that JJ would have grounded her.

"I missed you too JJ."

With a smirk and raised eyebrows JJ said, "So you made Derek Morgan a daddy hey?"

Emily let out a little laugh, "No JJ. _He _made himself a daddy…he just never knew it."

JJ's expression changed…."He didn't know?"

Emily shook her head.

"Jees….I guess we do have a lot to catch up on."

"Later….. Henry is amazing by the way. I can't believe how big he is."

Reid then joined them in the kitchen looking a little sheepish.

"Hey Reid, come and give me a proper 'hello'" and Reid walked up to Emily and gave her an awkward hug. JJ left them to it.

"Spence….." she looked him in the eyes….."I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye you know. It was really hard."

"I know." His voice was broken and strained.

"So how's you mom Spence?" She asked trying to break the awkwardness.

He didn't reply, just looked at her with his big sad eyes. She could see tears welling.

"Oh no… Spencer I'm so sorry." And she pulled him back in for another hug.

"She died Emily….." She could hear the pain in his voice and she cursed Derek in her mind for not telling her. She held him tight feeling his silent sobs. He may be a genius, but she had always felt like he was a child who needed looking after and she was happy to step in.

"C'mon you. Let's get back to everyone…..you know I'll be expecting you to impart some of that 'geniosity' on Dillon don't you?" He gave a little smile and they went back to join the others.

Emily managed to briefly catch up with everyone. Rossi was enjoying his retirement. Mainly occupying his time with book touring and he had also found the next 'Mrs Rossi'. Emily wondered if this would be the final one.

Hotch was enjoying his promotion and was heading up a white collar crime task force. He didn't bring Jack as he was at baseball practice, but Emily couldn't wait to see him. She wondered if she would actually recognise him.

She had a good night and had promised to see them all once she got back from Canada and moved back permanently.

On the drive back to Emily's parents, Derek and Emily laughed at events of the evening. She knew she had missed her old team, but didn't realise just how much until today. She also missed these conversations with Derek. Her teasing him and the both of them laughing at the foibles of the team.

The conversation however then turned to more a more serious topic, which was common place these last few days.

"Em, I was thinking…about when you go to Canada."

"What about it?"

"Well, I really would like to spend some decent time with Dillon…."

"I'm not leaving him Derek."

"No, I'm not suggesting that…but wouldn't you trust me?"

"Of course I would, don't be ridiculous, but he's had so much upheaval lately, me leaving him for weeks really isn't the best idea."

"No you're right. Anyway, like I was saying, what if I took some time off and come with you. I mean I can help you move and I get to see him away from all the distractions here."

Emily was taken aback by the suggestion….."When you say distractions, do you mean Stephanie? Is she going to be ok with this?"

Derek paused for a few seconds….."That's for me to deal with."

"Oh ok."

He could hear the upset in her voice…..

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap. I just thought you didn't want to talk about that side of things just yet."

She didn't respond. Her head was spinning. She hated the thought of him going back to another woman tonight but knew she had no right to say anything to him. On one hand she wanted to talk about it, but on the other, she was frightened of what the outcome may be. She was taken out of her thoughts by Derek's voice, "Well? Would it be ok if I came with you?"

"Sure Derek…It would be really good for Dillon."

She wondered what she was getting herself into here, but went with it anyway.

They said their goodbyes and Emily took Dillon into the house. As she walked in the front door her phone rang out. She looked at the screen and didn't recognise the number….."Hello?" she asked curiously.

"Hi. This is Stephanie. We met earlier. I think we need to talk…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to anything**

Lost Time

Chapter 5

Emily was surprised at the woman's voice at the other end of the phone….."Stephanie? What do you need to talk about?"

"Derek."

"What about him?"

"Just leave him alone ok?" Her voice was still soft. She sounded nervous.

"Leave him alone? What are you talking about?"

"You've hurt him once before, don't do it again." Stephanie hardened her voice slightly.

The last statement made Emily mad. She couldn't believe Derek would have lied about her…..

"Hurt him? What did he tell you?"

"That's just it Emily. He never tells me anything about you. Whenever he talks about his old team he'll go on and on about the others, but if I ask anything about you he clams up. And then you show up a few days ago, and I've barely seen or spoken to him since. He won't answer the phone to me, he's secretive. He's obviously avoiding me."

Stephanie still hadn't mentioned Dillon….. Could he really have _still_ not told her about him?

"Stephanie you should really be speaking with him about this." She tried to stay calm.

"Well I'm telling _you_. Just back off ok?" She certainly didn't sound sweet anymore. Emily could feel her blood boiling and that was like a red rag to a bull.

"Back off?"

"You've _obviously_ stirred up some bad memories for him."

"Sweetheart, I don't know what you think is going on, but you need to get your facts straight before threatening me. I suggest you get hold of Derek and talk to him."

As she cut the phone call off she cursed Derek. She was not about to fight over any man, no matter how she felt about him. Her finger hovered over Derek's name on her phone. She pressed the dial button and then just as quickly cancelled it. She knew if she spoke to him now it would only end badly.

"C'mon Dillon it's time for bed. Go and clean your teeth."

After putting Dillon to bed, Emily started to tidy up his toys away. She thought about the conversation with Stephanie. Why wouldn't he have told her yet about Dillon? Did she really hurt him when she left? He knew that wasn't her fault right? Her mind was racing and she had no idea of what she would say to him when she saw him next.

Derek drove home with a smile on his face oblivious to the conversation that had just gone on between the two women. Emily had done a fantastic job raising their child. He was bright and articulate just like Emily, but liked sports and a bit of rough and tumble, just like himself. The one trait he couldn't quite work out where it had come from was how well behaved he was. He always listened to Emily….there was no back chat, no tantrums…. That was one way in which he was definitely different to both his parents.

His mind however, did then wander to the two women. He still hadn't told Stephanie about Dillon and didn't have a clue how he was going to. The truth was he didn't want to deal with the grief this was going to cause him. He just wanted to concentrate on his son and he couldn't get Emily out of his mind.

As if on cue, his phone rang.

"Hi Stephanie."

"Finally Derek! Where the hell have you been?"

"What?"

"You've been ignoring me. Are you on the way home?"

"Yes."

"Ok. I'll see you there." And the phone went dead before he could say anything. He knew he had to face her sooner or later and time was running out before he left for Canada.

When he pulled up outside his place he could see Stephanie's car already there. He took a deep breath and walked in his front door. She was sat on the sofa and didn't move or look at him when he walked in. He went and sat on the chair opposite her and could see she had been crying.

"Stephanie…look I don't know what to say. I know I've been a jerk these last few days, there's just been a lot going on."

"But I'm your girlfriend Derek. You're supposed to tell me about this stuff."

"I know. It's just complicated."

"What did she do to you?"

"Who? What are you talking about?"

"Emily….what did she do to you to make you act like this?"

"She didn't _do _anything to me."

"So she comes back and it's just a coincidence I don't see you for days?"  
"No…..Ok listen. Before she went away four years ago, there was something between us…"

He could see her face turn into an '_I knew it'_ expression.

"…When she came back a few days ago she bought someone with her."

"Someone?"

"Yes…..my son….Dillon."

Stephanie's face was a mixture of anger and confusion… "Your son? Why didn't you tell me about him?"

"I didn't know about him…..not until a week ago."

"She didn't tell you? What kind of woman does that?"

He felt anger rising in him. He could not stand for anyone to speak ill of Emily. He never had done…..

"She couldn't."

"I can't believe you're making excuses for her…what hold has she got over you?"

"She hasn't. I can't explain the reasons."

"That's bullshit Derek….. I could tell she was hard faced when I spoke to her."

Derek suddenly looked at her and she realised her slip of the tongue.

"You spoke to her? When?"

"Well you wouldn't answer my calls. It was obviously because of her so I rang her."

"You had no right to do that!"

Derek stood up and paced the room, willing himself to calm down. All he could think about was how angry Emily would be right now and he wanted to see her to explain. But he was also conscious of the fact that he had treated Stephanie unfairly these last few days.

"Listen. I know none of this is fair on you, and you've done nothing wrong, but I need some time to get my head around all of this."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm going away for a few weeks… to stay with Dillon."

"You mean to stay with Emily!"

"No, to stay with my son. I want to get to know him away from all the distractions here. They're moving back here from Canada and I'm going to help them. I don't want to miss out on anymore time with him."

"Well it's _her_ fault you did in the first place!"

He took a deep breath… "Stephanie, I can't explain this to you and I'm sorry for that. But my priority right now is my son."

He felt awful treating her this way, but the truth was nothing would stop him being with Dillon and if he were completely honest with himself, Emily too.

Stephanie stood up looking enraged….."Derek. I have no doubt she will hurt you again. Any woman that keeps a child away from its father cannot be a decent human being."

And she stormed out.

He wished he could explain why Emily hadn't told him about Dillon…... Defend her… He hated that someone would think awful things about her.

He also had no idea whether he and Stephanie had just broken up or not, and in truth it was the least of his worries.

Derek had toyed with the idea of calling Emily that night, but decided to let her cool off first. He would rather speak to her face to face about it. The following day he had to work to tie up a few loose ends. As soon as he got up he sent Emily a text…._'Em, sorry about Stephanie. I will explain later, face to face. See you at 6. D x_'

Luckily there had been no cases to take him away so Derek had been seeing Dillon every day without fail. He turned up at Emily's parent's house that night with a new truck for the boy. He knocked the door and heard the familiar sound of his son running to the front door and shouting for him.

The door opened and Dillon ran out and enveloped his father's legs in his small arms.

"Hey buddy!"

"Hi daddy! I've been waiting for you for _ages_!"

It felt like he was being told off…..another 'Emily trait'….."Well, I'm here now. Let's go play before it's time for your bed."

"Mommy says you can stay for dinner."

Derek looked up at Emily who gave a small smile….. "I don't know. Is mommy a good cook?"

Dillon looked at his father confused and Emily's smile turned into a disapproving frown. Derek tried the old charm offensive and gave her a wink…..he wasn't sure that would work today though.

"Of course she's a good cook daddy. Don't be silly."

That made Derek laugh and he couldn't help but take his son in his arms for a hug.

"I'd love to stay for dinner buddy. I was only kidding. Come on let's go play for a bit before it's ready."

The three of them sat down to dinner. It felt strange for both Derek and Emily. To a stranger they would look like the perfect little family who did this every day. That was far from the truth.

Derek finished up and put his knife and fork on the plate. Dillon looked at him strangely.

"What's up?"

"You haven't finished your dinner daddy. If you don't you won't get any desert. Mommy says."

"Oh does she?" and he looked at Emily with a sweet smile.

Emily raised an eyebrow to him…."He's right you know. You should finish your veg. It's good for you."

Both Emily and Dillon were staring at him. Dillon had exactly the same expression on his face as his mother.

"Ok ok. You guys win. I'll finish my veg."

As Dillon finished his desert Emily turned to him and said, "Sweetie. Would you like daddy to put you to bed tonight?"

Dillon pondered the thought for a few seconds and then nodded his head.

She turned to Derek and smiled at him. He mouthed 'thank you' back to her.

After making up three stories about soldiers Derek finally left a sleeping Dillon and made his way down stairs. He found Emily sat on the couch with her legs curled underneath her, holding a steaming cup of coffee. He approached cautiously and sat on the chair opposite her. As he did she looked at him with a curious expression and then snapped out of it…."I made you a drink" and signalled with her eyes to the mug on the coffee table.

"Thanks." He picked the mug up and took a sip giving him time to think about what to say next. When Dillon was there it was easy…..he was a mutual distraction for them both, but when they were alone it was tense and awkward.

"Emily, I know Stephanie called you last night and I'm really sorry. She shouldn't have done that."

"No….she shouldn't…." Emily sounded really pissed. "….Why didn't you tell her about Dillon?"

"I have now….Look I just wimped out. Plain and simple. I was trying to get my head round it all and she was just… well I just didn't want to deal with telling her."

"Well I guess that's your business. I could just do without the phone calls from now on." She looked down at her drink.

He hated that she thought this was none of her business. He wanted to tell her that it was everything to do with her, but things were never simple between them and they were really lousy at saying how they felt.

"Yeah, well like I said, she knows now and she knows that I'm coming to Canada with you…if that's still ok?"

Emily looked up at him with wide eyes…."She's ok with that?"

Derek gave a little laugh….. "Not exactly."

Emily had no idea what she was getting herself into here. She wanted to know everything about Derek and Stephanie's relationship, but didn't ask for fear of what the answers may be. However, she genuinely believed Derek coming with them would be good for Dillon. She loved seeing them together and it had bought a whole new world to Dillon's life….one that she couldn't take away from him, even for a few weeks.

"Of course you can come…I need a removal guy."

They both laughed, only managing to wash away a little of the tension.

_**Ok that was a quick chapter as I'm away for just over a week so I wanted to get one in before I left**_**. **_**I'll look for some inspiration whist I'm away ;-)**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to anything**

Lost Time

Chapter 6

They left for Canada a couple of days after the 'incident' with Stephanie. Derek still had no idea whether he still had a girlfriend or not as he had not spoken to her since she walked out. He knew he should speak to her, but figured he'd give her some time to cool off and call her from Canada.

The journey to Canada passed without incident, although Derek did realise how difficult it was to travel with a child, even one as well behaved as Dillon. It was just beginning to dawn on him what a hard job Emily had had bringing up his son for the past few years on her own.

They drove from the airport in Emily's car which she had left there whilst she was away. They pulled up outside a modest sized detached house in a suburban neighbourhood. It was a pretty looking property, which was well looked after, with a small garden at the front and a white picket fence.

"Nice place Emily. Someone's done a good job."

"Yeah well I've had a fair bit of time on my hands to take care of it."

"You mean you did this all yourself?"

"Yes. You don't have to sound quite so surprised Derek. You've not cornered the market in doing up properties you know. You should have seen it before I started. I've got pictures. I'll show you."

Just then a little voice came from the back seat…."Mommy, I want to see Toby."

"Ok, we're here now. You can undo you seatbelt and go find him." Derek watched as Dillon frantically undid the seatbelt and then ran towards the house.

For a split second, Derek felt a pang of jealousy rising in him. No-one had mentioned a _Toby_. Surely Emily would have mentioned if she had someone living with her.

"Who's Toby?"

"Our cat."

"You have a cat?" Derek said laughing, secretly relieved.

"What are you laughing at?" Emily said with an annoyed look on her face.

"All this…..immaculate house, white picket fence, a cat, baking cookies….."

"So?"

"Well, it's all a bit clichéd don't you think?"

"Derek, there's been nothing _cliché_ about our lives the past few years."

"Sorry…" he looked down….."I didn't mean to…"

She cut him off sighing quietly, "No, I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that. It's just I've tried my hardest to give him the best start I could and…."

He put his hand on hers. "And you have Em. He's one incredible kid."

She looked at him and smiled…"I know…..come on. I'll show you my floral pinny and rolling pin inside." And she winked at him.

Emily went ahead and opened the front door as Derek carried as many bags as he could manage in one go. He dumped them in the hallway. The inside of the house was a beautifully done as the outside…..Dark wooden floors, antique furniture and the finish was excellent. He would have been proud to have done this up himself.

"Daddy daddy! Look here's Toby!" Dillon came running up the hallway holding a fat tabby cat who didn't look particularly happy at being man handled. Although he didn't struggle. He didn't look like he could be bothered.

"Wow. He's a big fella" Derek said bending down to stroke Toby on the head.

"I know. Mommy says I feed him too much."

Dillon moved in closer to his father and whispered, "I sneak him treats when mommy isn't looking. Toby likes them."

Derek couldn't help but laugh…."I don't think you should do that Dillon." Even though he knew that is exactly what he would do, but he had to support Emily.

"Dillon!" Emily shouted from the kitchen, "Go show your daddy round the house while I make you some food. It's late and you need to go to bed."

Dillon dropped Toby on the floor….."Ok! Come on daddy. I'll show you my room first. That's the best one."

Derek followed Dillon up the staircase and into the room with the 'Dillon's Room' plaque on the door. It was all that you would expect for a little boy's room and more. The walls were painted blue with luminous stars and moons stuck around. Emily had arranged some of the stars to make some of the constellations. He didn't have any idea what they were, but knew that Emily did. He remembered a case where victims had different patterns carved into their bodies and Emily had identified them as constellations.

There was a racing car bed and shelves full of books. Derek had no idea whether a three and half year old could read. He guessed not, but it was no surprise that Emily wanted him to enjoy books. He had a banner on his wall of what Derek assumed was Dillon's favourite soccer team. There were numerous toys dotted about the place including toy trucks, cars and soldiers. Kind of what he had expected of the little he already knew about his son.

Then he saw it. Just as she had said, there on the bedside table next to the football shaped lamp was a picture of Derek. He bent down to look at it trying to figure out where it was taken and how on earth she had got it. He remembered. It was taken when they had all gone out for Garcia's birthday not long before Emily had left. She had had a new phone and Garcia had taken it off her to take pictures of everyone. She must have kept it. He knew doing that must have been a risk.

"So daddy. Do you like my room?"

"I love it. I wish mine was like it."

"Well, if you ask mommy, she can decorate your room like this too."

"Maybe." He said laughing…."So buddy, tell me all about this soccer business then."

"James next door plays. It's really cool. His favourite team is Barcelona so I like them too."

"May be we can play with him one day and you can teach me the rules?"

"Uh huh." Dillon approved….."What's your favourite team daddy?"

"I don't know much about soccer, but my favourite American football team is the Chicago Bears. I used to play when I was a kid."

Dillon suddenly looked excited and ran over to a chest of draws…."Look daddy. Look what I've got." Dillon said handing him a teddy bear wearing a Chicago Bears T-shirt.

Derek shook his head in disbelief. Emily really was incredible. She was obviously determined to make Derek a part of Dillon's life, even though he wasn't there.

"Mommy lets me watch football sometimes…." And he leant in for a whisper again, even though no-one was around to hear anything…."But mommy doesn't know the rules, I think because she's a girl, so I don't really understand it."

"We can fix that." Derek said ruffling the boy's hair….."What about all these books? Does mommy read them to you?"

"Yes, every day. She likes to do all the voices."

Derek smirked at that thought…..They then both turned when they heard Emily shouting for Dillon to come down for his dinner.

Dillon ran ahead of Derek and was already sat at the kitchen table when Derek walked in.

"I haven't shown daddy everywhere yet. Only my room."

"That's ok sweetie, you can do it tomorrow. It's really late now."

"Ok" Dillon said tucking into the pasta Emily had made him.

"I'll make us something in a bit when Dillon's gone to bed ok?"

"Sure."

Derek watched as Dillon shovelled the pasta into his mouth.

"Dillon, would you slow down please. Chew it properly." Emily told him.

Derek recognised that trait as one of his own. His mother was always telling him off for eating too fast, even now. He wandered whether Emily would be doing the same with Dillon for the next forty years and he also wandered whether he'd be around to see it.

"Mommy, can daddy put me to bed tonight?"

"Of course." Emily said glancing at Derek.

He smirked back at her and said, "Yes and I can read you one of those books of yours, but I don't know if my voices will be as good as mommy's."

Emily looked at Derek wide eyed, realising that Dillon had been sharing some of their secrets…..well they weren't really secrets, just stuff no-one else knew about them. She realised that would all be changing from now on.

Derek put Dillon to bed and then joined Emily for the dinner she prepared. After he had cleared his plate he stared at her….."Thanks" he said in almost a whisper.

"Oh it was nothing. I didn't really have much food to make anything decent. I really need to go shopping tomorrow."

"I didn't mean the food, although it was great. I meant for this…. For letting me come here with you. I know it's a big deal."

"Yeah well I think it's good for Dillon. He loves being with you. That's what's most important right now isn't it."

Derek nodded. He wasn't sure whether that was a statement or a question. He didn't know if she wanted him to say more, but he wasn't about to make things difficult on the first day.

Emily got up and started clearing the plates. Derek stood as she did and touched her arm….she felt a little shock as he did…."Emily, let me. You've done enough for today."

"Thanks, but they can wait till tomorrow. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. I'll show you to your room if you like?"

"Ok." He said as he took the plates from her hands and placed them next to the sink.

She showed him to the spare room and handed him some fresh towels….. "I'll see you in the morning then." A sleepy Emily said.

"You will." He said smiling.

"Oh and Derek, while you're here, please treat the place as your own. You don't have to ask for anything. Just help yourself ok?"

"Sure…..sweet dreams Emily."

She let he gaze linger on him slightly longer than she should have done, probably due to her tiredness.

"Goodnight Derek." She said softly as she left the room.

The following morning Emily found she had slept in late. That happened rarely due to Dillon usually jumping on her demanding she wake up to either play with him or make him breakfast. She lay still for a while listening to the noises coming from downstairs. There was a lot of banging around and she wondered what Derek was doing to her kitchen. She was about to get up when she heard the most wonderful sound she had heard for a while….it was Dillon laughing uncontrollably. It was a great feeling to have some other life in her home, particularly one that made Dillon so happy…..she could only allow herself to enjoy it momentarily though as she knew it wouldn't last.

She got up and made her way down to the kitchen. As she walked in, her fears were confirmed. There was flour all over the floor and Derek was stood with his hands above a mixing bowl covered in dripping egg.

"Mommy!" Dillon shouted causing Derek to turn and look at Emily. He looked her up and down and raised his eyebrows. She then became very aware that she was wearing only and little vest top and shorts. She wasn't used to having to cover up in her own home.

"You can stop looking at me like that….. What have you done to my kitchen?"

Derek gave a sorry look…."He wanted pancakes. I though I'd give it a go."

"Have you ever made pancakes?"

"Err… no."

She went and stood in front of him and took over…."Here, let me….. I'll show you."

Derek watched as she put the mixture together. He tried really hard to look at what she was doing, but his eyes kept wandering to her long, toned, bare legs and her small toned belly that was peeping out above her shorts.

She turned to look at him and caught him looking at her chest…."Derek, the mixture's here…..hello!"

"Oh sorry. Carry on…." He grinned at her.

As they sat at the table eating the pancakes Derek's phone went off and he looked at the screen. He glanced up at Emily and from the look on his face she knew exactly who it was and he knew she knew.

"Take it Derek."

He looked at her apologetically…. "I should really."

She didn't say anything back to him so he got up and took the call out of the room.

"Hello."

"Derek? Hi. Remember me?"

"Sorry Steph. I should have called."

"Why didn't you?"

"I thought I'd give you some time to cool off."

"Cool off! Jesus Derek, what's the matter with you? The Derek I met would never have treated me this way."

"I'm sorry, but you know I've had something pretty big to deal with…a son I didn't know I had."

"Where are you?"

He paused, knowing this wasn't going to go well…."Canada."

"Canada! So you left without even saying goodbye?"

"You walked out Stephanie. I didn't know what that meant."

"You need to decide where you priorities lie…with me or _her_."

"My priorities are with my son."

"He's only been around for a couple of weeks!"

"Are you serious Stephanie? Look this is getting us nowhere. I'll call you later." And he put the phone down.

After showering and avoiding the subject of the phone call, Emily left for the supermarket leaving Derek looking after Dillon. Emily hadn't even given it a second thought, but Derek quickly realised that was the first time she had left Dillon alone with him. Not that he thought there was any question of her not trusting him with the boy, but he was happy that she didn't appear to concerned about it in the slightest.

Derek knew that he wanted this… this family life. It felt so right just the three of them, but he knew full well that it wasn't going to be that simple. Things between him and Emily rarely were….


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to anything**

Lost Time

Chapter 7

The following few days, both Derek and Emily managed to forget the subject of Stephanie and enjoy time with their son. They caught up on everything…..Emily wanting to know every last detail about what had been going on with all her former team mates and friends.

Dillon managed to teach Derek the little he knew about soccer and James from next door told him the rest. They came into the house one day after playing with James, both of them caked in mud.

"Jesus, look at you two!" Emily shouted as she watched them traipse mud onto her clean kitchen floor.

"What can I say Emily? It's muddy out there." Derek said as if he was being told off like a naughty schoolboy.

Emily shook her head smiling and took hold of Dillon's hand, "Come on you, straight to the bathroom." and she marched him upstairs.

After bathing him and getting him changed, Emily left Dillon in his room looking at his books. She figured he needed some quiet time after the none-stop goofing around he'd had with Derek the last few days.

As she shut his bedroom door, she turned and bumped into a soaking wet Derek, wearing nothing but a towel round his waist.

"Oh god, sorry."

"That's ok princess…." It was a long time since he'd called her that…."sorry I got you all wet." And he grinned.

Emily didn't know where to put her eyes. His body was as good as she remembered. Even better glistening with the droplets of water on his skin. She remembered his hands on her and the feel of his bare chest against hers. That was the last time she had been touched that way…..she wouldn't even contemplate starting a relationship with someone whilst in witness protection, especially with Dillon around.

If she were honest with herself, she could just rip that towel off and jump on him right there and then in the corridor, however there were two things stopping her…..the little boy sat on the other side of the door and the other slight problem of a certain girlfriend.

She snapped herself out of it….."I better go change this top." She said scurrying off to her room.

The next day Dillon was stopping the night at James' house and Derek cooked for Emily telling her she deserved the night off. After the meal, Emily was sat on the sofa and Derek walked in with a bottle and two large glasses of red wine.

"You remembered my favourite?" She said as he handed her one of the glasses.

He smiled and winked at her as he took a seat next to her. He shifted his body so he was facing her, took a sip of his wine and placed the glass on the coffee table next to them. He still hadn't said anything and Emily started to feel self conscious as he stared at her. He leant forward slightly and brushed a lock of her hair that was falling over her face behind her ear. His touch felt so good. She closed her eyes.

"Derek…..don't."

"Hey….." he whispered…."It's ok." She looked back at him with those big eyes pleading to him. Was she pleading for more or for him to stop? He knew he was pushing it and knew why she was stalling. This just felt so natural to him. He had yearned for this for so long.

"Emily, let's talk."

"About what?"

"About Stephanie….about us."

"Us?"

"Yes us. I know we've been avoiding this and I know that I'm here for Dillon, but we really should talk about _everything…_.. I want to."

"Derek, you and Stephanie is nothing to do with me." She said with a slightly sad tone.

Derek closed his eyes, looking a bit mad….."Yes it is Emily. Of course it's your business….Look, no-one has done anything wrong here. It's no-ones fault you had to leave, or that you couldn't tell me about Dillon. It's not my fault, your fault or Stephanie's. I know this is a mess, but the only way we'll sort it out is if we talk.

"Ok….if you're sure you want to do this?"

Derek nodded.

Emily took a deep breath and asked the question she had been longing to ask since she got back…."Do you love her?"

Derek paused, not expecting her to be so direct, but this was Emily Prentiss. He shouldn't be so surprised.

"I care about her."

"That's not what I asked."

"Honestly?" he said shaking his head….."This isn't going to sound good, but no, I'm not in love with her. I do care about her, and she is a sweet woman, but I couldn't be in love with her."

"Why?" a wave of relief flowing over her.

"Why? Because I've always loved someone else."

Emily moved her gaze from her glass to meet his intense stare. He knew exactly what she was thinking without her having to say a word. She wouldn't say it though… She wanted to know why he was with Stephanie…. How he could be for all that time if he didn't love her. The Derek she knew was a player, not one for relationships. She never imagined he could be with someone for a long time unless he had fallen for them.

He shifted his body slightly closer to her as if he needed to for her to hear him, like they were in a crowded room….."Em, I needed to try and forget you. I had no idea whether I would see you again."

"And did you…? Forget me?"

"Never…..I failed miserably." He said with a small, yet sad smile…."The most I probably managed to go without thinking about you was a day… God this is going to sound awful, but if she did or said something I'd find myself thinking…'Emily wouldn't have said that, or Emily would have done it a different way.' I constantly compared her to you. She never really stood a chance….. I sound like such a jerk."

"You're not a jerk Derek, although I wouldn't tell Stephanie any of what you just told me." She said with a smile.

"So…" Derek began…."What about you? Did you meet anyone?"

She shook her head….."No. This really isn't the best circumstance to start anything with anyone. You're living a lie from the start."

Derek was secretly relieved, but also sad that she had done this all on her own for the past four years. She'd had no-one to hold her, or kiss her…..to give her the affection and attention she deserved. He knew she was a strong woman, but to raise a child with no real family or friends around you must be pretty daunting and very lonely. Whatever happened from this point on between them, there was no way she was on her own anymore.

"The photo in Dillon's room? Why did you keep it?"

"I wanted him to know who you were. I already told you."

Derek smiled…."Em, you didn't know you were pregnant when you kept it."

She looked embarrassed….."Ok, ok, you caught me out. Don't go over inflating that ego of yours." He laughed as she punched him playfully on the arm.

After a few seconds, Emily closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead as if she were in pain.

"Hey, what's up?" Derek said touching her arm gently.

"I don't know…..this is all so complicated. What happens next?"

He didn't know whether she was asking him or herself, but he thought he'd give her some sort of a clue.

"I finish with Stephanie."

Emily looked at him in surprise….."Just like that? Don't you think you should think about it?"

"I have and I know this is the right thing to do. This isn't fair on her. It's all a lie, and she thinks we have a future."

"Ok, well I guess I should say good luck with that one. It's never an easy thing to do."

"No….and I can do it either on the phone right now, or wait till we get back to do it face to face…which one depends on you."

"Me? Why me?"

He moved in closed and said softly, "Well, it depends on whether picking one would change what is going to happen tonight." He leant in and kissed her sweetly on the lips.

She should be mad with him for assuming that she wanted this, but of course she did and she knew at times he could read her like a book.

She also trusted him completely and knew he wouldn't be saying he was going to break up with Stephanie just to get her into bed. Derek had never been anything but a gentleman with her.

Her mind told her to stop and get him to break up with her first, but her heart and her body just said go with it…and she did. She had waited for years to feel the way he made her feel.

She kissed him back, tasting his sweet lips and allowing her tongue to explore his mouth. That was all the encouragement he needed. He kissed her deeply, almost frantically. She could feel the frustration and the want of the last four years in that kiss.

She let her hands wander under his shirt and ran her fingers over the ripples that had been glistening at her the day before. He gently lifted her T-shirt over her head and then placed feather light kisses along her collar bone and up her neck. He was driving her crazy and it wasn't long before all their clothes were strewn across the room. _This _time they wouldn't be making it to the bedroom. They had both been so desperate to get hold of one another that the whole thing didn't last too long. They were soon an intertwined heap of sweaty exhausted bodies on the sofa. She lay on top of him and he wrapped his arms around her, stroking her back softly and they remained there until the following morning.

The final few days in Canada were spent packing. In true Emily and Derek style, they managed to avoid talking about what had happened between them and chose instead to re-enact it several times when a certain little three year wasn't running about the place. The 'relationship', if you could call it that, was minimal and really only physical. She didn't let him sleep in her bed….that would be too confusing for Dillon. Emily was very conscious of the fact that she was 'the other woman' in all of this at the moment, even though she was the mother of his child. It was all upside down.

On the journey home she thought of meeting up with all her old friends. She was really looking forward to some girls' nights with JJ and Pen. She had missed them so much. They were like sisters to her….. and she knew she'd need them to help her through the whole 'Derek situation'. It was going to be difficult, she knew, and it would help to have someone to talk it through with.

When they got back to DC, Emily and Dillon were stopping with her parents. Derek insisted that they got a cab to his place, as it was closer, then he would drive them to her parents…..it was pretty far out in the sticks.

Derek paid the cab driver and the three of them stood on his driveway.

"Wow daddy. Is this your house?"

"It is kiddo. Do you like it?"

"It's massive!" Dillon said, rather exaggerating.

In truth it was pretty big. Certainly too big for one person, but he had put his heart and soul into doing the place up and didn't want someone else enjoying it.

"Can I have a look inside?" the boy asked.

Derek gave Emily a glance, seeking approval, which she gave in the form of a nod.

"Come on…..I'll show you."

Derek took hold of Dillon's hand and led him to the front door, leaving Emily with the bags….."I'll get these then" Emily muttered sarcastically under her breath.

As Derek unlocked the door, he realised Emily was struggling with the bags.

"Oh god, sorry Em." He said jogging back to help her.

Emily went ahead of him and followed Dillon into the front door. Dillon was stood in the hallway surveying the house.

"Mommy…..daddy's house is a mess. Not like ours."

"Yes, it is a mess." She replied looking around herself. The place was trashed….ornaments smashed on the floor, pictures broken, curtains ripped…..

Derek walked in and stood beside Emily and dropped the bags on the floor upon seeing the destroyed house.

Keeping her gaze forward and trying not to smirk she said, "Burglary or disgruntled girlfriend?"

Derek shook his head, "What do you think? Jesus Christ!"

Emily nudged him, "Language." She whispered to him.

"Sorry….. Look I don't want him to see the place when it's like this. Do you mind if we get straight off. I've got a lot of work to do."

"Of course…Come on Dillon, time to get to nanny and grandad's."

"But I want to stay here with daddy. Why can't we stay with daddy?"

Emily and Derek both looked at each other, hoping one of them would have the right answer. _They_ didn't understand the complexities of their relationship, never mind trying to explain it to a three year old.

"Daddy's got to clean up his house. We can come back another time."

Dillon crossed his arms…."But I want to stay with him!" His tone was getting whiny and this didn't happen very often. She was beginning to wander whether Derek staying with them was a good idea after all…..had they just confused him? She couldn't blame him for wanting to be with his father.

Derek knelt in front of Dillon….."Listen buddy, I'm going to miss you, but I'm just a phone call away. You can talk to me any time. And I will see you every day unless I have to go away for work. Ok?"

"But you stayed at our house. Why can't we stay here?"

Derek looked up at Emily, both of them struggling to think of how to convince the boy. Emily put a hand on Dillon's head lovingly….."Sweetie, we can't stay here. Me and daddy have got to sort some things out, but you will play with daddy a lot ok and you can come stay here some nights."

Derek continued…"Yes, you'll be lucky as you'll have two places to stay…..that will be cool right?"

Dillon didn't look convinced, but reluctantly nodded his head.

Derek stood up and they both gave each other a relieved look – kind of like one they used to give each other when they'd narrowly missed being taken out by an unsub…..In truth, this was far harder.

On the drive to Emily's parent's house they were both pleased with the fact that they had sorted this little problem out together. Emily was glad that she was finally not having to do this on her own…Derek was pleased that she wasn't having to do it on her own anymore. Even with each other's help though, they know there was a whole host of obstacles coming their way. Would they be able to manoeuvre around them?


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to anything**

**No action in this chapter folks…. Pure fluff ;-)**

Morgan stood at Stephanie's front door. He just stared at it for a few minutes, not knowing how he was going to get through this conversation.

After finding the courage to knock, a pissed looking Stephanie opened the door and signalled for him to enter. He went and stood in the middle of her living room….

"Good job you did on my house Steph."

She looked at him, stone faced…. "You deserved that."

He nodded, "Yeah ok, maybe I did."

"There's no maybe's Derek….. So are you going to offer any explanation as to what's been going on the last few weeks?"

He took a deep breath….."Stephanie, I am sorry for acting like a jerk. You didn't deserve any of this, but this whole thing came out of the blue and hit me like a truck. Having a kid I knew nothing about is a pretty big deal."

"I know that. But you didn't have to shut me out. You can have both."

The fact that she had said '_can'_ worried him. Did she think that they still had a chance, even with everything he had done?

"Steph, I'll be honest with you, you deserve that much from me…It wasn't just Dillon coming into my life that threw me off….. It was Emily too."

"I knew it…so what are you saying?"

"I…. Before she left, I had feelings for her. When she went it threw my world upside down."

"That was a long time ago Derek… So she just walks back into your life and thinks she can pick up where you left off. Is that is?"

"No, not at all. She's not like that."

"Oh little Miss Perfect is she? Since when does little Miss Perfect run away and keep a child away from its father?"

"I told you before, that wasn't her fault….Look, we're going round in circles here."

"So what's the bottom line Derek?"

"I think we should…I think we need time apart."

That was a cop out, and he knew it.

"You're breaking up with me?"

"I think it's for the best…..I'm sorry Stephanie, I really am."

He expected tears, but they never came. Stephanie's face just turned to thunder.

"So have you been sleeping with her whilst you've been on your cosy trip?"

Morgan dreaded this question. He was never someone who liked to lie to anyone, particularly people he cared about. He did care about Stephanie, just not quite enough obviously. He didn't need to lie though….. His silence said it all.

"Get out Derek!"

"Stephanie…. I really am sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"I don't want to hear it….. Just get out!"

As Morgan walked out of her house, he felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders….. He genuinely felt bad for hurting Stephanie, but the feeling he got from having Emily and Dillon in his life far outweighed that.

The first thing he did as soon as he got back in his car was call Emily….

She picked up after a couple of rings…."Hey Derek."

"Hi… you ok?"

"Yeah I'm good. You?"

"Yes…. I just wanted to let you know….. I've sorted everything with Stephanie….. It's over."

There was a silence the other end…. He hoped she'd be happy about it, but knowing her as he did, she was probably panicking the other end, wandering what it meant for 'them'.

"Em? You still there?"

"Yeah….. sorry…. That's good I guess."

"You guess…?" He chuckled. "….. I didn't expect cartwheels Emily, but may be something a little more than that."

He heard a little laugh the other end. "….. Well I can tell you one thing for sure…. You'll be getting no cartwheels from me."

"We'll see eh Em?" She could almost see his cheeky wink at the other end of the phone…."Do you think your mom and dad will have Dillon tonight?"

"Probably, I don't think they have plans. Why? What you got in mind?"

"Well I'd like to take the mother of my child on a date."

"A date? Don't you think we're doing this all the wrong way round?"

"Yes, but we can't do anything about that….. and anyway, I kind of like that we've done it the wrong way round….. I don't think either of us has ever been one for convention."

"True. I doubt there'll ever be any danger of that….. So where you taking me then?"

"I don't know yet….. Be ready for seven."

"Ok. See you later."

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Emily spent an hour getting in and out of different dresses….. She didn't know why she was so worried….. Derek had seen her in lots of dresses…. And in some other states she'd rather forget.

She knew he liked red, but did she want to be that obvious? No, she'd make him wait for the red dress. She opted for a black number….. A couple of inches above the knee.

As she finished off her hair, Dillon came running in…."Mommy, I ate all my dinner!"

"That's great sweetie." She said looking in the mirror.

Emily turned to see if he was still there as he had gone quiet. He was staring at her…. "What's up Dillon?"

"Why are you dressed all pretty mommy?"

Emily smiled and signalled for him to come and sit on her lap.

"I'm going out tonight with daddy."

"Am I coming?"

She gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead…."Not tonight. We need to talk about you."

"Me?"

"Well, I think someone has a birthday coming up soon and is going to be a big four years old… so we need to talk about that."

Just then the doorbell went and Dillon jumped down off her lap….. "That's daddy!" he shouted running out of the room.

"Dillon, let nanny open the door!"

As Emily walked down the stairs she could hear Dillon telling Derek all about his day and smirked at the fact that Derek was showing such interest in what vegetables Dillon had just eaten for his dinner. As she got to the last step, Derek turned to look at her…. his eyes widened and he mouthed 'wow' at her.

"Is this ok?" Emily asked.

Derek put his hands over Dillon's ears and grinned at her…. "Ok? You look ridiculously hot Emily."

Laughing she said, "No I mean is it ok for wherever it is we're going?"

"Oh right….. Yes it's perfect."

"Good….." She looked down at Dillon. "Ok sweetie, we're off now. Make sure you go to bed when nanny says ok?"

"Ok mommy." He said as she bent down to kiss him.

"See you buddy…. We'll have that game of soccer tomorrow ok?"

Dillon nodded with a smile on his face.

As they walked out of the door, Dillon shouted after them….. "I'd like a bike…. A big boy's bike."

Derek turned and looked at Emily questiongly.

She leaned in to whisper to him…."I told him we were going out to talk about his birthday."

"Oh right, I wandered why he wasn't kicking up a fuss."

Emily turned back to look at her son…."Ok, we'll have a think about it."

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Derek took Emily to a little basement Italian restaurant in a back street. He held her seat out for her to sit down at the corner table he had reserved.

"Derek, you don't have to do the whole chivalrous thing you know."

He frowned at her…."No….but I want to."

"Ok, I'm sorry. I'm just a bit nervous I guess."

"Nervous? Why on earth would you be nervous? We've been out to dinner tonnes of times."

"I know. Just not like this."

He leant over the table and took both of her hands in his…."Do you know what? This feels like the most natural thing in the world to me. I never thought I'd get a chance to do this with you. I'm glad someone up there decided to give me a second chance."

She gave him a sweet smile and squeezed his hands, letting him know she felt the same way. She was never too good saying how she felt….. Much better at showing it.

"So, how did you know about this place? I never knew it existed."

"I've been here before."

"Oh." Emily's face fell. He could see the disappointment creeping across it. He decided she could take a little teasing.

"Yeah, with three other women."

He watched as her face turned from disappointment to frustration. She pulled her hands away from his.

"That's not even funny Derek. You bought me to a place you've used to entertain other women? Way to make a girl feel special."

He grinned at her.

"Pack it in Derek, or I'm out of here."

"Ooh Emily, you're turning a slight shade of green there."

"Derek!" She said and kicked him under the table.

"Yes. I did entertain three women here….. My mom and sisters. That ok with you?"

She now looked like a sulking child. He continued to watch her with a grin….. She was trying to fight it, but she couldn't help the smirk that appeared across her face. Eventually she gave up and laughed.

"Derek Morgan, you will pay for that…. I can promise you that."

"I look forward to it" He said raising his eyebrows.

Emily's phone then lit up on the table…. She only kept it out because of Dillon, still feeling nervous leaving him for any length of time, even if he were with her parents.

She had a look at the text message on her phone…. It was from her mother reading 'If you want to stay out tonight that's fine. Dillon is in bed. He won't know you've gone.'

Emily was surprised at her mother's directness, although she knew she was keen for Emily to make a go of it with Derek. She never said it outright, but her mother wasn't a fan of the 'unconventional'.

Derek read the surprise on her face…."Everything ok?"

"Yes fine. It was just my mom." She said with a smirk on her face.

"So, how you feeling being back?"

"It's all still a bit crazy…. But good crazy." She said smiling at him. "I'll feel a lot better once we move into our own place. Living under the scrutiny of my parents is not something I ever liked."

"They giving you a hard time?"

"No, not at all. They've been great really, but I'm used to my own space you know?"

"Of course. It won't be long now though will it?"

"No. Just a week or so…. So how _you_ feeling since I've been back?"

Derek looked down at the table and then looked back up at her, his face lit up.

"I honestly didn't think I'd see you again. The longer you were gone, the more I thought you were gone for good. When you walked in my office I didn't think I could have been happier. But then you told me about Dillon…. And I know this will sound really corny, but I actually think you made me the happiest man alive."

She then did something he hadn't seen for such a long time….. She gave him one of those smiles….. The kind of smiles she used to give him when they worked together. The ones that consumed her whole face and mesmerised him…. He always felt like they were special smiles…. Secret smiles….. Just for him.

"I'm really surprised that you've taken this all so calmly Derek….. I mean I always knew you were good with kids and I knew you'd make a wonderful father, which is why I made sure he knew who you were. It must have been a huge shock but you just did it. You just became a father in a matter of minutes… I honestly thought you'd freak out."

"Me too….. And if it happened a few years ago I probably would have…." Then he paused in thought…"In fact, that's not true…..I didn't freak out because it's _you_… it's always been you Em."

"Really?"

"Oh my god…. Are you serious? You do know how I feel about you right?"

Emily just looked at him, not knowing what to say…. Why was she so rubbish at this?

"Come here." Derek said putting his hands on the table. She placed her slender hands in his big, strong ones.

"Emily Prentiss, I love you. I think I've loved you since the day you told me you were a nerd."

She laughed at him. She had never forgotten that conversation. It was the day she felt she actually belonged at the BAU…..And then it just came out. She thought it would be harder than this, but it felt just right…."I love you too… and thank you for giving me Dillon. He is truly the best thing that I have ever achieved in my life."

"The best thing _we_ have ever achieved."

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After the meal had finished, they walked slowly along the cobbled stones towards Morgan's car. Her hand was shaking, but she didn't care…. She slipped her hand into his and looked towards him. He smiled and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Sighing, he said…"God I don't want tonight to end."

"Me neither."

"How long have we known each other Emily?"

She knew he knew the answer, but played along anyway… "About nine years?"

"Yep, about nine years…. And I've loved you for most of them…. We've had a son… "

"What are you getting at?"

"Through everything….. all this time, I've only ever actually woken up with you in my arms twice…. That sucks."

She didn't reply, just pulled his arm to stop him walking. She stood in front of him and kissed him sweetly….. The sweet kiss quickly turned into a deep, searching one. Still locked onto his lips, she whispered into his mouth, "How you fixed for tomorrow morning?"

Raising his eyebrows…."Really?"

"Uh huh."

"What about Dillon?"

"He'll be fine with my mother. They're taking him out tomorrow. I'll call him first thing."

"Ok, well I'm not arguing….. come on you."

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As they got out of his car on the driveway, Emily was laughing…. "Derek, I haven't seen you drive that fast since we had a car chase with an unsub."

"Well I don't intend on wasting any time tonight."

And may be if he hadn't been so distracted, he would have noticed the car parked down the street….. The occupant watching intently as the happy couple entered Derek's house.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to anything**

The following morning, Derek stood over his bed watching the sleeping brunette. She was lay on her stomach with the bed sheet just up to her slim waist. Her naked back alone was enough to drive him crazy. He probably wouldn't have been able to resist the urge to jump on top of her if it wasn't for the tray of coffee and bagels he had in his hands.

She must have felt his presence and she began to stir. As she did, he sat down on the bed next to her and propped himself up against the head board.

"Morning sleepy head." He said smiling at her.

"Morning." She replied still half asleep.

"Coffee?"

Emily lay on her side facing him and propped herself up, leaning on one hand with a little smirk on her face. "Derek, do you remember what you said last night?"

"I said a lot of things….. Mostly stuff that I couldn't possibly repeat in daylight hours." He said winking at her.

"No, not that…. About waking up together?"

"Oh yeah…."

"Well come here then."

She raised her eyebrows, looked at him wide eyed and held out her arms to him.

Derek quickly placed the tray on the floor and hopped back underneath the sheets. She lay one arm over his stomach and he rolled onto his back.

"Is this what you had in mind?" She said with a wicked look in her eyes.

He didn't say anything, just remained fixated on her face.

She moved up his body to kiss him on the mouth and then worked her way down onto his bare chest.

With raspy breath Derek could just about form a sentence…. "Jesus Emily…. I could definitely get used to waking up like this."

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Half an hour later, Emily lay with her head on Derek's chest. All of a sudden she sat upright… "Shit Derek, I didn't call Dillon."

Derek watched as she scrambled to remove the sheets off her, getting her feet tangled.

"Hey, calm down…." Derek said reaching for his phone on the bedside table. "….. Here, use my phone."

"Sorry….. I've got to work on my separation anxiety." A little smile creeping across her face.

Derek reached over and gently kissed her forehead…. "I think it's adorable that you have separation anxiety... now call him. Your mom's house is number eight on my speed dial."

"You have my mother on speed dial?"

"Only for you and Dillon."

"And what number am I?"

He grinned at her….."Number one of course….. You have been for…..well as long as I can remember."

"What? You must have changed your phone in four years?"

"Of course, but I always put your name in….even though I had no number. I never wanted to erase your name…. It would have been too final. I guess I had my own separation anxiety."

"Derek Morgan, you really can be the biggest softie sometimes."

"Hey, don't get repeating that to anyone….. I've got a rep to protect."

Emily looked at him with raised eyebrows….."A rep to protect?"

He playfully tapped her nose with his finger…."Go on….ring your son"

Derek watched as Emily dialled the number and asked her mother to put Dillon on the phone. She then put the phone in front of them on loud speaker. He was only used to doing this when talking to Garcia with the rest of the team. This was another new thing he'd done since she'd been back… talk on speakerphone with Emily and _their _son.

"_Mommy?"_

"Hey sweetie. Are you ok?"

"_Where are you mommy?"_

"I'm with daddy."

"_Are you still talking about my birthday?"_

They both laughed and Derek took over.

"Yes kiddo. It's a bike you want right?"

"_Daddy! When are you coming here?"_ Dillon was always still so excited with anything to do with his father.

"We'll be over soon. Nanny and granddad are taking you out first though aren't they?"

"_Yes. We're going to the zoo._"

"Wow. The zoo."

"_Yes. I'm going to see the tigers."_

"Tigers? You like tigers eh?"

"_Yeah, they're like a big cats, like Toby"_

"They sure are kiddo."

Emily continued….."Dillon. Make sure you're good for nanny and I'll see you in a couple of hours ok?"

"_Ok mommy. But next time, can I come out with you and daddy. I like being with you and daddy."_

Derek was beaming inside. He really couldn't believe this was _his _son speaking.

"Sure, we'll talk about it later….you can pick somewhere to go."

"_Really?"_

"Yes really… Well have a good time baby and see you in a bit…. I love you."

"_I love you too mommy….. and daddy."_

Emily looked over to Derek and smiled at him…..she was well aware that that would have been the first time he'd had his son tell him he loved him.

"Love you too buddy. See you later."

As he hung up the phone, he became well aware that Emily was still smiling at him.

"What?" He asked her

"You can be really cute sometimes."

"Cute…? Emily, for god's sake….. Cute…..? Softie….?"

She didn't answer him, just giggled and lay back on the bed.

Derek looked down at the tray he had bought up earlier….. "Well, the bagels are cold and I've got nothing else. I'm going to the store to get some stuff…. You need anything?"

"No, I'm fine."

He leant over and kissed her on the forehead….."Now don't you move a muscle…. I'm going to make the most of having you all to myself for the next few hours when I get back….. I'll show you _cute_."

After he left, Emily let her eyes close and she started to drift off. A few minutes later, she heard a knock at the door. She decided against answering it….. It wasn't her house, and no-one would expect her to be there… But the knocking didn't stop. She figured may be Derek had locked himself out…. She glanced at the bed side table and saw his phone so he wouldn't be able to call her.

She got up, threw on one of the biggest T-shirts she could find and made her way downstairs. As she did, the knocking continued… "Ok, ok, I'm coming!"

Approaching the door, she could just make out the figure of the person the other side of it…. It wasn't Derek, but there was no turning back now. They obviously knew she was there.

Emily positioned herself so her body was behind the door as she opened it as she wasn't exactly covered up. She just stared wide eyed at the woman in front of her….. "Stephanie?"

"Yes." She said, walking in through the opening in the doorway past Emily.

Emily looked surprised… "Er, Derek isn't here."

"I know. I just saw him leave."

"Oh….. Right. Well, what do you want then?"

Stephanie walked into the lounge and turned to face Emily.

Emily felt pretty self-conscious in just Derek's t-shirt and tried pulling the bottom of it down, even though it really wouldn't go any further.

"I see it hasn't taken you long to make yourself at home then."

"Look Stephanie, I really don't think you should be talking to me…. This is between you and Derek."

Stephanie let out what was a mixture of a laugh and a snort…. "You didn't mind getting between me and Derek when you were in Canada did you?"

Emily shifted a little on her feet…."I think you should go now."

Stephanie looked Emily up and down with a look of disgust on her face…"So this is how you got him back then?"

Emily took a deep breath trying not to loose her temper. Stephanie was looking at her like she was a piece of dirt and she had always vowed never to fight over a man.

"I didn't _get him back_. He made up his own mind. Sometimes things just don't work out."

"You think it's that simple….? I put everything into my relationship with him…. It's not easy being with someone who's basically married to his job you know. Then _you_ just walk in, click your fingers and he drops me."

"It wasn't like that."

"Oh no….? So you didn't think walking back into Derek's life with his child was going to get him back?"

"Are you accusing me of using Dillon to get Derek back?"

"Well….yes!"

Emily closed her eyes, thinking herself…_'Don't get into this with her Emily'_.

"Well, you're wrong."

"Why the hell did you keep his son away from him for nearly four years anyway? What kind of a woman does that?"

Emily felt a pain in the pit of her stomach….. It never stopped hurting that Dillon had missed out on Derek….. and visa versa.

"I couldn't tell him."

"Is that what you told Derek? Because that's what he seems to believe. It sounds like bullshit to me."

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Really? Do you not think he's only with you because he's scared of losing Dillon? If he's with you, you can't just waltz off again can you?"

Emily didn't answer….

"Hit a nerve have I?" Stephanie said with venom.

"Look, I don't have to explain myself to you… _I _owe you nothing. I'm sorry that things didn't work out for you two, but that was his decision."

Emily watched as Stephanie clenched her fists….. She didn't need to call on her outdated profiling skills to figure out this woman was pissed. Emily wasn't worried that she couldn't take her…. it was just the practicalities of rolling around with barely any clothes on. It might give Derek a small thrill if he walked in, but she didn't fancy it.

Emily was waiting for the outburst but it didn't come. Instead, Stephanie looked at her and said, "Do you really think he wouldn't do it to you?"

"What?"

"Cheat…. He cheated on me with you….. Why do you think he wouldn't do it to you?"

That hit Emily like a bolt….. She was right. Why wouldn't he do it to her? She let the thoughts fly through her mind and she wanted to say out loud…..'Because _he loves me…. Not you. He never loved you!_', but she didn't. She just walked over to the front door and opened it….. "You really should go now Stephanie."

Stephanie walked slowly over towards Emily and stopped in front of her. Emily didn't flinch…. She had dealt with far worse than the woman in front of her. Emily continued looking Stephanie in the eyes, neither woman allowing their gaze to falter.

"Good luck Emily…. I don't expect it to be plain sailing for you both."

Emily's brain was shouting, '_What the hell does that mean_?', but again, she held her temper in and watched Stephanie walk out towards her car.

Emily shut the door and walked over to the lounge and sat on the sofa. She couldn't help but think of the things that Stephanie had said…. Could Derek just be with her because of Dillon? Would he cheat on her? Before she left for Canada, she had always known Derek was a player and never one to settle down…. Could he ever change?

She sat routed to the spot and wasn't sure how much time had gone by when she heard the key in the door. She listened to the door shut and his steps making their way towards her.

She felt a strong but gentle hand on her shoulder…."Hey, what are you doing down here? I thought we had a deal?" He said letting out a little laugh.

She didn't respond or move….. He looked at her confused, so walked round to sit next to her and went to put an arm around her waist, but she flinched at his touch. She didn't mean to and felt guilty about it as soon as she did.

"Emily, what's wrong? What's happened?" he said softly.

She turned and looked at him, her big brown eyes meeting his…"Derek, can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"If Dillon wasn't around….. I mean, if we never made him….. would you still want this?"

Now he looked even more confused….."Are you kidding me? Of course I would. Why are you asking me this? You were fine when I left."

She let her gaze fall down to his hands. He lifted one of them to her chin and gently guided it upwards so she was looking at him once again…. "Emily, I told you I fell in love with you a long time ago….. Everything I have told you about how I felt, was before I knew Dillon existed. Come here."

He pulled her into a hug. He let his head lean against hers and as he looked over her shoulder he saw something… something that didn't belong there.

He pulled out of their embrace….."What's that?"

"What's what?" She said looking confused.

He leaned over her and grabbed a scarf that was draped over the back of the sofa.

"This." He said holding the scarf in front of her face.

Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"This isn't yours and it wasn't here before… She's been here hasn't she?"

"If you mean Stephanie, yes _she_ was."

Derek shook his head, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know, I just…"

"What the hell did she say to you to make you like this?"

"Nothing. It doesn't matter. She's pissed Derek. You can't blame her."

"I understand that, but she has no right to come here unannounced. If she had something to say to me she could have called me."

"She wasn't here to see you. She came to see me."

"_You?_"

"Yes, I think she was watching and waited for you to leave."

"Ok, I'm going to call her."

"No Derek. Leave it. It's fine. I can handle her."

"Well whatever she said has upset you….. Tell me what she said."

"Nothing important."

She snaked her arms round his waist and lay into his chest. As she did he lay back and enveloped her in his arms. She couldn't help but have a sinking feeling in her stomach. Derek had made her the happiest she had been in a long long time, but Stephanie's words kept whirling round her head. She knew she would have to work to get rid of them….. and she would work, real hard. Usually at this point she would run away, but she wasn't going to lose him from her life again…. The first time was the biggest mistake of her life.

She turned on to her front, not allowing their bodies to break apart. Kissing him on the lips she whispered into his mouth, "I love you Derek Morgan, never forget that."

Stroking her hair and still looking a little concerned he whispered back, "I love you too."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to anything**

Dillon sat at the breakfast table in Ambassador Prentiss's kitchen with Derek as Emily made him some breakfast.

"So buddy, it's your birthday this weekend. Are you excited?"

"Yeah I guess." A little pout appeared across his lips

"What's up?"

"I can't have a party."

Derek looked at Emily as she walked over and placed her hand softly on Dillon's head.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry, but we don't know any kids here yet, but as soon as you make some friends at school, we will have a big party and it will be in the new house. Ok?"

Dillon nodded.

"What would you like to do for your birthday? You choose." she continued.

"Well, I'd like to go to the park and have a picnic and some ice cream. Ooh and I want to have a sleep over at daddy's house."

"Sure. You can sleep over any time you want Dillon." Derek said touching his son's arm.

"I know that daddy, but I want mommy to stay too, then we can watch cartoons and eat sweets all together."

"Sounds like fun to me." Derek replied, glancing over at Emily with a grin on his face.

Both Dillon and Emily had both had their own sleep over's at Derek's house, but obviously for very different reasons.

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On the day of Dillon's birthday Derek arrived bright and early after an early morning wake up call from an excited four year old boy wanting to know how long it would be before he came round.

Emily opened the front door to him.

"Jees Derek, did you buy the whole store?" She could barely see his face for the presents he was carrying.

"Look, I've got four years of birthdays and Christmas' to make up for."

"Derek, you don't have to make up for anything. Seriously, he isn't going to know where to start with all this."

As Derek walked in past her she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"It's very sweet though." She whispered into his ear. He turned and looked at her and planted an even bigger kiss on her lips. "Em, grab some of these before I drop them."

They walked into the garden where Dillon and his grandparents were playing.

"Daddy!" Dillon shouted, running up to his father stopping himself as he realised he couldn't jump up on to him as normal, prevented by the mound of presents.

"Are they all for me?"

"Sure are."

"Wow!"

Derek set the presents down on the floor. "So, what have you had already?"

"I got that bike from mommy." He said pointing over to the shiny new bike Derek and Emily had picked out together a few days before. "She says I can take it to the park today. And I'm going to soccer school. Nanny and granddad got me that and I got lots of other toys too."

"That's great. So do you want to open a few more?"

Dillon grinned and nodded his head. He began working on Derek's gifts as everyone watched him.  
Emily went and sat down next to Derek, close enough that she could talk without being heard.

"Hey." She said, resting one hand on his knee.

"What's up?" He replied half looking at Emily and half watching Dillon in delight.

"Nothing, I just wanted to say thanks."

"Thanks?" He said looking confused.

"Yeah. Dillon adores you and he needs you. I'm so sorry you missed out on so much of his life. Neither of you deserved that."

"Hey, you had no choice." He said letting his hand stroke the side of her face.

"You really do believe that don't you?"

"Of course." He looked at her sad face. He could see the guilt whirling around in her eyes and wanted to make it go away.

Changing the subject he continued. "Emily. I was just thinking. If you wanted, I mean it's totally up to you, but do you want to take Dillon to Chicago, to see my mom? She's missing out on all this. She hasn't even met him yet."

Emily's face softened into a smile. "I'd love to. If that's what you want."

"I do. She's been giving me ear ache since she found out about him. I just wanted things to settle here first."

"Ok." She knew that was his way of trying to assure her.

"Oh and also, I was thinking about what Dillon said about not having a party, so I kind of invited a few people round to mine tomorrow. You don't mind do you?"

"Tomorrow night?" Emily's face looked a little shocked.

"Yeah. Why is that a problem?"

"No, no it's fine. Who did you invite?"

"Garica, Reid, JJ, well everyone. I know it's not the same as having a load of kids round but…"

"I'm not sure about that." Emily replied laughing. "It's a great idea. He'll love it."

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After an exhausting day at the park, the three of them finally made it over to Derek's place for the sleepover they had planned.

Dillon sat on Derek's sofa whilst Derek and Emily were in the kitchen making popcorn.

"Jees Derek, he's never going to sleep tonight with the amount of sugar he's had today."

"It is his birthday….. oh shit!"

"What is it?"

"I just thought, I've got no kids movies. I meant to go and buy some. What the hell can we watch with him? I think he's a bit young for Rocky."

"Rocky, are you serious?" she said shaking her head. "Anyway, you don't need to panic Derek, we bought supplies. One thing you learn when you have a kid is that they need their very own _go bag_. "

Emily called out to Dillon in the lounge, "Have you picked a DVD sweetie?"

"Yes. Bednobs and broomsticks."

"Ok, put it in the player. We'll be out in a second."

She then looked at Derek and laughed. "I have seen that movie so many times I can recite the whole script. As far as kids movies goes, it's a good one though."

They walked back in the lounge and placed popcorn, soda and a bowl of sweets on the table. Dillon looked at the treats wide eyed and immediately reached forward to grab a hand full of gummy bears.

He'd positioned himself in the middle of the sofa. "Ok daddy, you sit here." And he patted the sofa to his left. "And mommy you sit here." Patting the sofa to his right.

Emily and Derek did as he said and the three of them were soon engrossed in the film. Taking a sip of his soda, Derek looked over to his right watching his son, who had shifted a little to lean on Emily. Emily was watching the film, laughing at the same parts as Dillon. They obviously had their history with this film. He then felt a little hand resting on his thigh and looked down to see that Dillon had placed his other hand on Emily's leg. A little smile crept across his face which Emily caught sight of. "What?" she whispered.

Derek just shook his head, the smile not faltering. He moved his arm across the back of the sofa and lay it on her shoulder, stroking her affectionately. He never would have believed a few months ago he would be sat like this with two people he couldn't imagine being able to love anymore. He had to protect this.

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The following day Derek's house was a hive of activity. Henry and Jack were running round with Dillon following behind, infatuated by the older boys. Everyone was in little huddles talking and catching up on their lives. Emily, JJ and Garcia sat in one corner.

"So, come on then spill Emily. How's it going with you and the chocolate god? I want details." Garcia asked excitedly.

Emily laughed, "Penelope, I'm not giving you the gory details of my sex life, but what I will say is there's no problem there whatsoever. I don't think there ever will be."

"So, are you saying there's a problem somewhere else? JJ looked concerned.

"No…. oh I don't know. It's not him. It's all in my head. I guess it feels like this is all too good to be true."

"Emily, we only have to be around you two for like 2 minutes to see how happy he is and how much he adores you. If you keep thinking you're not worthy of this, it will go wrong. Just enjoy it." JJ replied.

"I haven't just got me to think about though have I?"

JJ put a reassuring hand on her friend's knee, "No, but Dillon is all the more reason to make sure you don't mess this up."

Emily looked at JJ with her eyebrows raised.

"What? You're the one being all negative, not him. He loves you. Get over it." JJ said letting out a little chuckle, the other two women following suit.

Emily then turned to Garcia, looking awkward. "What did you think of Stephanie?"

"Oh, Emily Prentiss, don't you even start comparing yourself to her. She is not even close to you."

"Thanks Pen, but that's not why I was asking. I was just wandering what you thought she was like. She's kind of confronted me twice over Derek and she's, well, she's real pissed and I just get a bad feeling from her."

"She's confronted you twice? What the hell did she say?" JJ asked shocked.

"I just think she's trying to scare me off him. Planting bad thoughts in my head. She basically said that he was with me because of Dillon and that he could just as easily cheat on me as he did to her."

Garcia opened her eyes a little wider, "He cheated on her? What, with you?"

"Oh shit, you didn't know that. God I'm an idiot." Emily looked at her friends waiting for the looks of disapproval. Instead a smirk appeared over Garcia's face, "You dirty dogs. I can't say that I approve, but only because it's you two can you be forgiven."

JJ laughed at Garcia and then turned back to a serious face, "Emily, I don't think Derek is going to risk anything with you. There's no guarantees in life, but sometimes you have to take a risk. But I don't think for a second this is a risk."

"Shhh he's coming." Garcia whispered as she saw Derek walking over to them.

"Ladies, can I get you all another drink?"

"Yes please." Garcia quickly responded, holding out her glass to him.

"JJ?" He said signalling to her glass.

"No I'm fine, still got plenty of this one left."

"Em?"

"Er, yes. Make it a double."

Laughing at her, he replied, "A double? You want to make this into a real party eh?"

As she smiled back at him, the door bell sounded. Derek watched as Emily's smile dropped and she suddenly looked nervous.

"Who's that? I wasn't expecting anyone else today."

"I'll get it." Emily stated as she quickly fumbled to her feet.

Derek looked at her confused and then looked to JJ and Garcia who were looking equally as stumped.

The three of them watched as Emily made her way to the door and then stood in front of it smoothing down her hair and adjusting her top.

"What is she doing?" Garcia asked.

"I have no idea. " Derek said not taking his eyes off the front door.

As she opened it, Derek's jaw dropped. He watched as Emily leant forward to greet the woman stood at the front door with a small, kind of awkward hug.

Emily turned to look over in Derek's direction, the nervousness not disappearing. He stared back wide eyed and then made his way over to the two women.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" He said enveloping her in a hug.

"Well I wanted to see my grandbaby on his birthday."

He pulled out of the embrace and looked at his mom with a huge smile and then back to Emily, who looked like she'd just been caught doing something she shouldn't.

"Did you organise this?" He said with his deep voice.

"Yeah. You don't mind do you?"

He looked down at her hands that were shaking and took hold of one of them, "Of course not. It's amazing… You're amazing. Thank you."

"Ok, enough you two I want to see my grandchild. I didn't travel all this way to watch you two getting gooey with each other."

"Sorry mom, I'll just go get him."

As Emily watched Derek rush off, Fran tapped her on the arm. "Thanks for inviting me here. I was so close to just jumping on a plane without an invite. That boy drives me crazy sometimes."

"You're very welcome. I'm just sorry it's taken this long."

"Oh that's in the past now and I'll let you into a little secret. I actually love seeing Derek getting gooey with you. I can't remember the last time that happened with anyone in front of me."

Both their attention was stolen as they heard the pit patter of little feet. Derek was walking towards them holding Dillon's hand. Emily looked at Fran as she held her hand to her mouth, tears welling in her eyes.

"Dillon, meet your granny." Derek said.

The boy moved in closer to Derek looking up at the stranger, not saying anything.

Emily bent down, "Dillon say hello sweetie."

Dillon leant in towards his mother and whispered, "Mommy, that isn't granny."

Emily laughed and looked up at Derek, "We should have explained this first."

She looked back down to Dillon, "Sweetie, this is daddy's mommy. That makes her your granny too. You have two grannies. Do you get it?"

He nodded his head, looked back up to the lady in front of him and looked confused as she was crying, "Why are you crying? Are you sad?" He asked.

Fran let out a teary laugh and bent down to pick him up, "No baby. I am just so happy to meet you. You are just perfect and so handsome." And she planted a big kiss on his cheek causing Dillon to scrunch his face up.

"Mom, he won't be able to breathe if you hold him any tighter."

"Oh shut up you. If it had been down to you I'd still be sat at home just thinking about him, not here being able to cuddle him."

She looked back to Dillon, "I've got some birthday presents for you. You wanna see them?"

"Yes please."

"Ok, come on, let's go find somewhere to sit down."

Fran placed Dillon back on the floor, took hold of his hand and picked up the bag of presents she had on the floor. As they walked off she called back to Derek, "Honey, get my bags, they're outside."

Derek looked outside, "Oh my god how much did she bring? Give me a hand to get these upstairs will you?"

They dumped the bags in Derek's spare room and just as Emily was about to walk out of the room, he grabbed her arm. "Come here you." He pulled her into his arms and rested his chin atop her head, "Thank you so much for this. You have no idea what this means to me."

"I was worried you'd be mad at me for going behind your back."

He pulled out of the hug and looked at her, eyebrows dipped. "Mad at you? Don't be ridiculous. The only reason I didn't invite her myself is that I didn't want to rush you."

"I just don't want her to miss out or Dillon. He's never had this before…. A proper family. It's always been just me and him."

"Yeah well, that's a thing of the past. Never going to happen again."

He took hold of her hand and guided her with him, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Listen, I want to talk to you about something." He looked into her eyes, his turn to look nervous.

"What?"

"You know last night when we were sat watching the movie together?"

"Yes."

"Well, I kind of want that every night….. What I mean is, last night felt right. It felt like we were a family. Do you know what I mean?"

"I do but I don't know what you're getting at."

He held both her hands in his, "Why don't you move in here? Don't move into that other house. Just come here."

Emily's eyes widened.

"Don't freak out Emily. It makes sense doesn't it?"

Her breaths quickened, "Are you sure?"

"Of course, I wouldn't ask if I wasn't."

"This is a big deal Derek."

"Yes I know and so is having a son together."

"But we shouldn't do this just because of him."

"Jesus Emily, what do I have to do to prove to you that I love _you_."

He went to pull his hands away but she grasped on to them tightly. "I'm sorry Derek. I do know you love me and I love you too. Last night did feel right."

"So?"

She smiled at him, "So, yes we'll move in here."

His face turned into a grin and he leaned in to kiss her on the lips. "You won't regret this." He whispered in to her mouth.

She pulled out of the kiss and held his face in her hands, "Derek, I'm so sorry for being so rubbish at all this relationship stuff. I guess I'm always expecting something to go wrong….."

He went to say something, but she stopped him. "….. But that is nothing to do with you. It's me. No-one has ever made me feel as safe as you and I couldn't have dreamt for more than the way you have been since I've been back. I know it won't always be easy, but I promise you I will do everything I can to make this work….. Oh my god I can't believe we're doing this."

"Yeah, crazy isn't it. Probably the two most commitment phobic people in the FBI moving in together and making babies."

"Commitment? I never said anything about commitment." She said with a smirk on her face.

Derek laughed, "What you wanna see other people? No chance, no one else is getting their hands on this." And he ran his hands under her top and stroked her silky back.

"This? Ok, we have may have some stuff we still need to talk about."

"I'm done talking Emily." He leaned in and kissed her neck.

"We can't, everyone's downstairs and they could walk in."

Without removing his lips from her neck, with a muffled voice her replied, "They're all busy and besides I locked the door when we came in. No-one will walk in on us."

She raised her eyebrows and thought to herself for a couple of seconds, "Well in that case." She said, pushing him back and straddling his hips. She looked him in the eyes and then pulled her top off. His stare moved down to the black lace bra she was wearing and he held on to her tiny waist.

"Having this on tap is going to kill me Emily."

"You afraid you won't keep up with the pace?"

"No chance."

He lifted his upper body up and signalled with a nod of his head for her to meet him half way. She leant down and kissed him sweetly.

"Welcome home." He whispered as he went to work on unclasping her bra.

**Ok, I was just wandering, do you think they get 'down and dirty' too much? I like to show their naughty and dangerous side as well as their caring side. What do you think? I just realised that pretty much every chapter they're up to something... I didn't even mean to do it that way, it just happened! LOL!**


	11. Chapter 11

It was Fran's last night staying at Derek's place and she sat on the sofa with Emily whilst Derek put Dillon to bed. Emily and Dillon had stayed there the whole time Fran was there, Derek wanting Fran to get to know Emily just as much as Dillon.

"Listen Emily, I want to say thanks again for inviting me. I have had the most wonderful time."

"Please don't thank me. I just want to make up for the time you have missed out on Dillon."

"I'll be honest with you. When Derek first told me about Dillon, my gut reaction was to be real mad at you for not telling him. I couldn't see there would be any reason for keeping a child away from his father for so long. And although I still don't know the reasons, I trust my son when he tells me there was no alternative. Watching you with that child, I can see you would do anything to keep him safe. But please tell me you're not in danger anymore are you?"

"No not at all. I wouldn't be here if we were. But I want you to know from the time he could understand, Dillon always knew who Derek was. I honestly wouldn't have kept him away if….."

The older woman stopped Emily mid sentence and moved forward to take hold of her hand.

"Listen, you have to stop beating yourself up over this. What's happened is in the past. What I can tell you is that I have never seen my son so content. Over the past few years, although he has tried to mask it, there has always been a sadness behind Derek's eyes. Every time he left Chicago it killed me to think what he was or wasn't going home to. I was scared he would never be truly settled. That sadness has completely gone now. You and that child make him the happiest I've ever seen him."

Emily let a small smile creep across her face. "Thanks Fran. That means a lot to me and please come here whenever you want. I want Dillon to know all his family."

"You won't keep me away." Fran said smiling.

As Derek walked back into the room, Fran got up. "Right I'm going to pack, get a bath and then an early night. I'll see you at 5am." She said kissing Derek on the cheek. She then turned to Emily, "Come here." She said with open arms. Fran was well aware of Emily's family background from Derek and knew the lack of affection she had had throughout her life.

Fran hugged her and whispered, "You're doing an amazing job with Dillon and thank you for making my son happy."

As she pulled out of the hug she continued, "I'll say goodbye now, as I probably won't see you in the morning."

"Bye Fran, it was lovely having you here. We'll see you real soon ok?"

As they both sat back down on the sofa, Derek looked at Emily with a smirk, "So what were you two talking about?"

"None of your business."

"Oh, so that means me then?"

"Derek, the world doesn't revolve around you y'know?"

He chuckled in response. "Oh, ok then, looks like I'm going to have to get used to this being in the dark….. It's a woman thing right?"

Emily just shook her head and laughed at him.

"So…" he said touching her arm, "What next then? You going to move in tomorrow?"

"You don't waste any time do you?"

"Well, you've lived here for the past week. The only difference will be all your stuff will be here. Plus, I've still got a couple of days off, so we can get it done quick."

"Ok, but there's so much to sort out. Dillon's starting pre-school next week and I need to sort the house and my job."

"Have you decided what you want to do?"

"Well, I guess it will have to be a desk job. We can't both be out in the field. I've got an appointment at the Bureau in a few days. I'll see what they say."

"You know, we could manage on my wages. You don't have to work if you don't want to."

Emily stared at him for a few seconds and then sniggered, "Are you seriously thinking I'm going to play wifey at home?"

"Well, I kind of like the idea of coming home to my dinner on the table."

He tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't. His trade mark cheeky grin appeared which almost never failed to make Emily laugh. She playfully punched him in his stomach causing him to grab hold of her round the waist.

He planted a big kiss on her lips. "Ok, you don't have to play wifey, but I wouldn't mind it if I came home to find you in a pinny."

She scrunched up her face, "A pinny? Really?"

"Yeah, as long as that's _all_ you've got on."

Chuckling she said, "Seriously though, I'm going to pay my way."

"Ok ok whatever you want….. Now let's watch a movie….. Rocky ok?"

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A few days later and they were all moved in. Sitting at the dinner table, the three of them were eating the spaghetti bolognaise Emily had made, Dillon getting more over his face and on the table than in his mouth.

"Dillon, I wish you'd let me cut it up for you." Emily said shaking her head.

"No mommy, I want to eat it properly. I'm a big boy."

"You sure are." Derek said letting out a little chuckle, "But look, I cut mine up. It's much easier to eat it that way." Derek winked at Emily and started cutting up his spaghetti. Emily smirked back at him and mouthed silently, 'nice try'.

"Daddy, don't be silly. Grown ups don't eat spaghetti that way. May be you need to learn from mommy.

Emily sniggered and Derek looked less than impressed.

"So, are you excited about pre-school tomorrow sweetie?" Emily asked, changing the subject for Derek's sake.

"Uh huh." Dillon nodded with a mouthful of food.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I squared it with Hotch to go in a bit late so I can drop him off with you."

"Good, I'm going to need you there when the separation anxiety kicks in."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Emily and Derek looked at each, both acknowledging that they didn't know who it would be.

"I'll get it." Derek said as he got up to leave the table.

"Ok. Now Dillon, go upstairs and clean yourself up. You can play for a bit in your room before bedtime."

As Dillon and Derek both left the kitchen Emily began clearing up the dishes and a few seconds later she heard the voices coming from the hallway. She recognised the female voice straight away…. Stephanie. What the hell was she doing here?

Emily left the dishes to move closer to the doorway to hear what was being said.

"_Steph. What the hell happened to you?"_

"_I'm sorry to come here Derek, I didn't know where else to go."_ She sounded like she was half crying and her voice was soft and timid…. A far throw from the woman Emily spoke to a few days ago.

"_It's ok. What happened?"_

"_Someone attacked me. I think he's been stalking me."_

Emily rolled her eyes, immediately suspecting this was some pathetic attempt at getting Derek's attention.

"_Ok, come in. I'll call the police."_

"_Oh no, I don't want to make a fuss."_

He was letting her in! Emily made her way out of the kitchen just in time to see Stephanie taking a seat on the sofa. Derek looked up at Emily as she walked in the room and she could tell he was apologising with his eyes. She walked round so she was stood next to Derek, in front of Stephanie, arms folded. Stephanie's hair was a mess and she had a scratch on her face and her top was ripped.

"So, who did this to you?" Emily asked, trying to sound concerned.

"I…. I don't know. It all happened so fast, I couldn't get a good look."

"Oh right. Why do you think someone was stalking you?"

"He knew stuff about me."

"Steph." Derek started, "You have to tell the police."

"No, I really don't want to be a pain."

"You're not. I'll go call them."

Derek walked off into the hallway and as he did Stephanie looked at Emily, saying loud enough so that Derek could hear, "I'm sorry to intrude like this." And right there as she did, the biggest smirk appeared across her face.

As angry as Emily was, she could play that game too, "No really Stephanie, it's no trouble at all."

She waited for Derek to be busy on the phone and moved in closer to Stephanie and lowered her voice, "I don't know what you think you're going to achieve with this, but if you think you're going to interfere in my son's life, you've got another thing coming."

"What's the matter Emily? Are you worried?"

Emily heard Derek's steps coming towards her, "So do you want a drink while we wait?"

"Yes, that would be great, thank you." And the pathetic, whiny voice reappeared.

Emily made her way back to the kitchen followed by Derek. As she got through the door she felt Derek's hand on her arm, "Hey I'm sorry about this."

Emily gritted her teeth before she turned around, "It's ok. It's not your fault, but I'm not exactly comfortable with her being here with Dillon upstairs. May be I'll take him to my mom's tonight."

"No way. She'll be gone soon. Please stay. This is _your _home."

"Ok, but the cops better hurry up. Do you really think she had a stalker?"

Of course Emily knew full well there was no stalker and there was no assault, but she played along.

"I have no idea, but it's not my case to figure out. She won't be here a second longer than she needs to be."

As Emily handed the drink to Stephanie, she heard the sound of tiny feet running down the stairs. She saw Stephanie's eyes widen as the little boy shouted, "Mommy! Look I drew a picture of me, you and daddy!"

Dillon ran up to his mother and thrust the drawing into her hands.

"Hey sweetie, that's brilliant."

She picked him up and stared at Derek, "I'm going to take him upstairs."

"No mommy, I want to show daddy my picture."

"Later Dillon. You've got to get ready for bed now. Daddy will come and tuck you in in a bit. You can show him then."

Emily put a protective hand around Dillon's head and then turned to walk away.

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Emily was knelt down next to Dillon's bed tucking him in as the door slowly opened and Derek walked in.

"Hey buddy, you ready for a story?"

Emily turned to look at him. "Is she still here?"

"Yeah, the cops are here, she's just giving them a statement. I've got time to read him a story."

"Ok, well I guess I'll go and….." She didn't really know what she would do, but luckily she was saved.

"No mommy, stay while daddy does the story. Daddy's good at doing all the voices."

Emily felt Derek's hand on hers…."Yes stay."

"Ok."

Emily sat on the bed next to Dillon as Derek read the story. Dillon was right, he was good at all the voices and Emily spent the entire time trying hard not to laugh at him. If she were honest with herself, watching him do this just made her adore him even more.

It didn't take long before Dillon was sound asleep and Derek and Emily were back downstairs. The cops were just leaving and Stephanie was putting her jacket on.

"Thanks again for this Derek. I do appreciate it."

"No problem. Hopefully they'll find him soon."

"Yeah may be. Well I better go home then."

Neither of them responded, Derek just walked to the front door to open it. As he did, the hinges squeaked.

Stephanie looked at Derek and smiled, "So you still haven't fixed that then?"

Emily knew that was Stephanie's reminder to her that she was there first.

"No" He replied letting a small, awkward chuckle escape his mouth.

Emily watched as Stephanie walked passed Derek and let her hand brush his. She felt a small pain in the pit of her stomach and felt the rage in her rise. Derek didn't flinch and just said, "Take care Steph." Emily hated that he called her 'Steph'.

"I will thanks." As she walked out of the door she glanced once more back at Emily and she could see the satisfaction in her eyes. Emily knew this was far from over.

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The following morning Derek and Emily stood outside of the pre-school with Dillon. Emily crouched down and straightened up his T-shirt which was half hanging out of his trousers.

"Now, you have a good time baby. You're going to meet lots of new friends today ok?"

"Are you and daddy staying with me?"

"No sweetie, but I'll be back to pick you up in a few hours."

She watched as a little sadness crept across Dillon's face. As she was looking at Dillon, Derek was watching Emily. He could see she was holding back the tears so he picked Dillon up. "Hey buddy, you remember that party you wanted?"

Dillon nodded his head.

"Well, when you make some new friends in there, we can have that party and you can invite as many of them as you want. That sound good?"

"Yes daddy."

"Come on then, let's take you in."

Derek placed an affectionate hand in the small of Emily's back and they walked into the building. Dillon was introduced to the teachers and in no time he was playing with two other boys.

"He's in good hands Mrs Morgan." The assistant said looking pitifully at Emily. She had been there a thousand times with parents before.

Derek turned and smiled at Emily after she had been called Mrs Morgan, but she hadn't even appeared to notice. She was just staring at Dillon.

He leaned in close to her, "C'mon Em, let's get out of here. He's fine."

They walked out and got back in Derek's car. He reached over and wiped the solitary tear rolling down her face.

"God Derek, I feel so stupid."

"You're not stupid. It's normal. My mom cried at every new school I went to, every baseball game I played in, when I joined the Force…everything new I did."

"Everything?"

"Yes Em, everything."

"I don't think I ever saw my mom cry at anything."

"Well, you're not your mother, that's for sure. You're an amazing mom….. and a damn fine one too." And there he did it again. The Derek Morgan wink. It still made her giggle like a schoolgirl inside….. She'd never tell him though.

"So you looking forward to your drink tonight with the girls?"

"Yes, I think I could do with one….. or ten."

"Jees Em, living with me isn't that bad is it?"

She laughed at him and wanted to say to him, 'No it's the best move I've ever made', but she couldn't seem to find the words. She would though, one day real soon.

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Garcia, JJ and Emily were sat at a bar down town that night, beers all round.

"So Em, when are me and Kevin going to get to babysit the little prince?" Garcia asked with a big soppy grin.

"Why are you trying to give Kevin some ideas?"

"May be, but I just want to spoil him. Besides you two could do with the odd night on your own right?"

"Yeah, that would be good." Emily smiled and then her two fiends watched as the smile disappeared.

"What's up? You two not having problems are you?" JJ asked concerned.

"No, but Stephanie's really worrying me."

"What again?"

"Yep. You'll never guess what's she's done now… she turned up at the house the other night saying she had been attacked."

"Oh my god that's awful." Garcia said looking horrified.

"Pen, it's bullshit. She wasn't attacked, she made it up. She as good as told me when Derek was out of the room."

"You're kidding me? What did Derek do?" JJ said.

"Well you know he can't resist helping a damsel in distress. She totally knows that. She's claiming to have a stalker, so no doubt this stalker is going to keep showing up."

"What did you say to Derek?"

"Nothing. I just let him get on with it. If I said I thought she was lying he'd just think I was jealous…. and heartless."

"What, so you're just going to put up with it?" JJ saying, surprised at her friend.

"I guess we'll see where this goes, but I can't tell him what to do. I either trust him or I don't."

"And do you?" A concerned Garcia said.

"Yes, I just don't trust her. I think she's going to try every trick in the book to get him back, or at least ruin it for us. She's one conniving bitch"

"You have to say something to him Emily." JJ said shaking her head.

"I'll see what happens. We've just moved in together. The last thing I want to do is come across as possessive and jealous. I just want it to work."

Garcia put her hand on Emily's, "Well that settles it. I'm having Dillon tomorrow. I'll collect him in the morning and he can stay the night. You can have the love god to yourself for the day."

"Thanks Penelope, you're an angel."

"Yes I am." And all three ladies laughed and clinked glasses.


	12. Chapter 12

The following morning Emily was up before Derek, which wasn't unusual on his days off, unless Dillon managed to drag him out of bed. This morning she managed to intercept Dillon before he got to Derek and get him ready for Garcia.

"Why are you packing my things mommy?"

"You're going to play at Aunty Penelope's. That'll be fun won't it?"

"Yay! Can I take some of my toys?"

"Sure, but just a few, we can't pack too much."

"Ok, I'll pick some."

A few seconds later Emily's attention was caught by the deep, sleepy voice coming from the doorway.

"Emily?"

"Hey." She said turning to look at Morgan, who was stood there wearing nothing but his boxers and a frown.

"Where are you going?" He said nodding with his head towards the bag she was packing.

She looked at the bag and then back at him realising what it looked like, "Oh no, I'm not going anywhere. Dillon's going to stay with Penelope and Kevin today. We sorted it last night."

"Why?"

"Why?" She said standing up and walking over to him. She leant in and gave him a light kiss on his lips, "So I get you all to myself…. I've got a surprise."

"Oh yeah." A sleepy smile creepy across his face. He began to put his one arm around her waist, but she quickly slapped it away.

"No time for that, I've got to get Dillon's breakfast. Pen will be here any second."

She began to walk off down the corridor and shouted back, "Get showered and changed…. and pack an overnight bag."

"What for…." But he got no answer as she disappeared down the stairs.

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As Emily opened the door to Garcia, an excited four year old boy came sprinting down the hallway to join them.

"Aunty P'nelope!"

"Hey little man." She said picking him up for a hug.

"What are we going to do today?"

"Well, I though we could go see a movie, go to the park and then we can go play with Uncle Kevin. How does that sound?"

"Can we have popcorn?"

"Of course…. Only if it's toffee popcorn though."

"You weren't planning on getting any sleep tonight were you Pen?" Emily said laughing.

Pen smiled at Emily and then tuned back to Dillon, "How about we pull an all nighter Dillon?"

He scrunched his nose up, "What's an all nighter?"

Garcia and Emily laughed and Garcia carried Dillon back into the house.

"So what you got planned for the day then Em?"

"Well considering I only had overnight to think of something, I went online when I got back last night and booked a room at the Four Seasons. It cost me a small fortune, but it's got the most amazing spa."

"Ooh get you Ms Prentiss."

"I haven't told him yet though, it's a surprise. Besides, I didn't want to spend it here in case you know who shows up. I'm confiscating his personal phone too. I guess he'll have to keep his work one though."

"Good plan….. Right, is his stuff ready?"

"Yeah, it's here. I'll bring it out to the car."

Emily belted Dillon into the back of the car on the booster seat and then gave him a kiss, "Bye baby, have a good time and be good for Aunty Penelope. If you want to speak to me just ask her to ring ok?"

"Yes mommy."

Emily withdrew out of the car and stood next to Garcia.

"Thanks again for this and I mean it, if you need me for anything just call."

"I know I know, but I'll try not to disturb the hottest couple to hit Washington."

"Whatever Pen." Emily chuckled.

"Hey!" Both women turned to see Morgan running bare foot down the path towards them. "You not gonna let me say goodbye?" Morgan said to Emily slipping his hand round her waist as he came to a stop in front of them.

"You were in the shower."

"Hey baby girl. So you got babysitting duties then?"

"Always a pleasure hot stuff."

Derek leant into the car and gave Dillon a kiss on the forehead, "Have fun with Aunty Penelope. I love you buddy."

As Derek stood upright, Garcia said, "Right, I'm off. You too have fun." And winked at Emily.

As they watched the car pull away Derek put his arm around Emily's shoulders and they began to walk back into the house. "So are you going to tell me where we're going then?"

"You'll see when we get there, oh and pack some swim shorts."

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Emily pulled up outside the Four Seasons and turned to look at Morgan. He stared out of the window at the impressive building in front of him.

"Yeah right Emily, whatever."

"What?"

"We're not stopping here."

"We are…. My treat."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, come on." Smiling and placing a hand on his knee.

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As they entered the room, Morgan's eyes widened at the sight in front of him. There was a lounge with a sofa and a flat screen TV, a bedroom with the biggest bed he'd ever seen and a marble bathroom which was bigger than the one in his own house.

"Jees Emily, you know how to live the high life don't you?"

"Well, I can't deny I haven't stopped in these kinds of places before because of my mother, but believe me it was never that much fun. Today however is different…. It's all about who you're with right?"

"It is." He said walking forward and snaking his arms around her waist. As he kissed her, he stepped backwards taking her with him, letting them collapse on the huge bed. After the biggest make out session they'd ever had they lay next to each other and Emily grabbed hold of the brochure for the hotel.

"So, what do you fancy ding first?"

"You." He said raising his eyebrows and grinning at her.

She laughed at him, "We've got loads of time for that. Ooh how about a full body massage. That looks amazing." She said looking at the brochure.

"Only if you give it me."

"Derek, can you think of nothing but sex."

"Not when I'm in the plushest hotel with the most beautiful and sexy woman I know."

"Derek Morgan you just can't help turning it on can you?"

"Nope." And he reached over and pulled her on top of him, but as he did he heard his phone ring out.

Emily looked down at him and rolled her eyes, "I meant to take that off you."

"I'll turn it off in a minute…. But what about Dillon?"

"I'll leave mine on. C'mon, let's get downstairs. I really want that massage."

"So you're going to make me wait eh?"

"Yes, it'll be worth it."

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After a massage, sauna and lounge by the outside pool, Derek and Emily made it back to the room early evening.

"Do you know, I haven't felt this relaxed in… well I can't actually remember." Emily said with her head laying on Derek's chest.

"Me neither. Thanks." And he kissed her lightly on her forehead.

"I guess we should get ready for dinner…. Unless you want to order room service?" she said turning to face him, raising her eyebrows.

"Hmmm we could, but I have another idea."

"What's that?"

"You up for playing a game?"

"A game?" She said scrunching her nose.

"Yep."

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,..,,.,.,.,.,.

An hour and a half later, Emily was sat at the hotel bar. She finally gave in and wore the red dress she knew he had always loved. She was caressing the rim of her glass of martini when she felt his presence behind her. She felt his hand touch the small of her back.

"Hi." She turned to see his handsome face smiling at her. He wore a black suit with a dark grey shirt and no tie. She loved him in suits, he looked incredibly sexy.

"Hi." She responded with a coy smile.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"No. Of course not." Emily was trying hard not to laugh out loud. This felt really silly, but she'd give it a go.

Derek sat down next to her and held out his hand to her, "Derek."

Emily smirked and Derek looked at her with a frown, so she straightened up her face, "Emily." She said taking hold of his hand a gently shaking it.

"So what possible reason is there for a beautiful woman, looking like you do, drinking on her own?"

"Well, I just split up with my boyfriend. He was a jerk…. Looked at bit like you actually."

Derek looked at her, eyebrows raised, like she'd just insulted his favourite football team and then composed himself.

"Oh right. Well it sounds like you're better off without him. Would you let me buy you dinner to take your mind off him?"

"Sure, sounds good."

He took her by the hand and led her to a table, pulling out the chair for her to sit down.

After ordering their food and pouring the wine, Derek leaned in a little closer. "So Emily, tell me a bit about yourself."

A wicked smile crept across her face. "You sure you wanna know?"

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't."

"Ok, well I come from Maine, and eventually went to college in New York."  
Derek looked at her and frowned. He knew that's wasn't where she'd come from or where she'd been to college, but she continued anyway.

"Whilst I was in college I had to strip to get me through. Parents couldn't give me much."

Derek's eyes widened and he tried his best not to snigger, "Oh right, tell me more about this stripping." He encouraged her.

"Well, it was in a dark, dingy basement club. I had to dress up as different things each night….. a nurse, cop, waitress, you know stuff like that."

"Oh really? So did you do private dances?"

"May be… if the price was right."

He leaned in a little closer and winked, "How about dinner?"

She laughed at him, a sweet laugh.

"You'll have to wait and see….. So tell me about you then Derek."

"Me? Oh I'm nothing special…. I just play football."

"Really?" She said in a surprised tone…"Ok so I know nothing about football. The only position I know is a quarterback. They used to get all the girls in college."

"Well, that's the position I play."

"Oh wow." She said smiling at him, but it was definitely sarcastic.

They continued their charade as he pulled her on to the dance floor and they swayed slowly to the song being played by the pianist only a few feet away from them. He buried his face into her hair and took in the sweet scent of her hair.

"So, did I do enough to get that private dance." He whispered into her ear.

He could feel the vibrations as she giggled a little.

"But we've only just met. What kind of a girl would you think I was if I came to your room now?"

"The best girl in the world."

He looked at her a smiled a warm, tender smile at her. She leant in and kissed him sweetly. "Ok, you can take me to bed now Derek." She whispered into his mouth.

Derek led Emily by the hand down the corridor and stopped outside their room door. He lifted the back of her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently, "So I think it's game over now right?"

"If you want."

"I do, I want _my_ Emily back."

"_Your_ Emily hey?" She said smiling at him.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

A couple of hours later, they lay in each other's arms, their bodies so close they were only taking up a quarter of the bed. Their love making had been soft, slow and tender. Emily wasn't sure whether it was because they were so relaxed, or whether it was because she had truly never felt so close to any other man she had slept with. She was definitely experiencing all sorts of new things with Derek Morgan.

"Thanks Emily, this was an amazing day."

"You're welcome. I think we both needed it."

"Yes we did. So I take it from the wink she gave you, Garcia knew about this?"

"Yes, but only just before she took Dillon."

"So she'll be bugging you for details then?"

"She always bugs me for the gory details."

"And do you tell her?" Derek sounding horrified.

"That's what girls do when we get together, didn't you know that?"

"What JJ too? You tell them everything, you know like my _habits'_

"Habits? Is that what you call them?"

As they both laughed, the sound they both dreaded rung in their ears. Derek's work phone was flashing and vibrating on the bed side.

"Oh shit, this can't be a case at this time." Derek said, leaning over and picking up the phone to look at the screen. Emily watched as his face turned into a look of surprise.

He put the phone to his ear, "Stephanie?"

Emily couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Steph, calm down."

…..

"Have you called the police?"

…..

"You need to call them Steph."

….

"Hang on."

Derek put his hand over the phone so Stephanie couldn't hear and looked at Emily. Her face was like thunder.

"How come she's got that number?"

"I gave it to her for emergencies…. She says there's someone outside her place. She thinks it's the stalker."

"And?"

"And she wants me to go over there."

Emily took a deep breath, "Are you freaking kidding me? The police will get there quicker than you. Jesus Derek, don't let her spoil our night."

"What if there is someone there?"

Emily shut her eyes and put her hand to her forehead. She really didn't want to tell him what to do.

"Look, do whatever you want Derek."

Derek just looked at Emily. He didn't want to ruin their perfect day. He had never felt like this about anyone, but what if something happened to Stephanie? Could he forgive himself for not going….? It wasn't because it was Stephanie, he would feel the same about helping anyone he knew.

He made his decision…

**To be continued…..**

**So what do you think he will do? Or what do you think he should do?**


	13. Chapter 13

Derek continued to stare at Emily.

"You're going to go aren't you?" She said looking away from him.

He put his one hand to the side of her face, gently touching her hair.

"Emily, I'll be an hour tops. She's not far from here. I'll just make sure everything's all right then I'll come straight back. I promise."

She didn't respond to him and then he was distracted by another voice at the end of the phone.

"Steph, I'll be over in a bit…. But you must call the police ok?"

He hung up the phone, jumped out of bed and started to dress watching Emily as he did. She lay back with her head against the pillow and turned to watch him too, not saying a word. She didn't need to. He knew she was pissed.

"Look, I'm not going because it's her. I would go for anyone."

She knew he was right and so did Stephanie. That's the exact reason she was doing this.

"I know" She whispered.

He grabbed Emily's car keys and leant over the bed to kiss her. She couldn't stop herself from turning away from him to stare straight ahead. He stopped and looked at her slightly surprised but she continued to stare forward, not acknowledging him at all.

"I don't have time to argue Emily. I won't be long….. I love you." And he gave her a kiss on the cheek, before leaving her alone in the room.

All she wanted to do was call JJ but she didn't think she'd appreciate such an early morning wake up call. She sank back under the covers and stared at the spot where he had just lay. She knew any attempt to get to sleep would be futile. So many things whirling around her head.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Derek got to Stephanie's as quickly as he could…. More so that he could get back to Emily sooner. He ran up the pathway and she had obviously been looking out for him as the door opened as he did and Stephanie ran to him. She flung her arms around his waist.

"Derek, I'm so glad you came. I'm so scared."

To say he felt awkward was an understatement. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away from him.

"Steph, let's get you inside. I'll have a look around. Did you call the cops?"

"No, I knew I'd be ok with you coming."

Derek shook his head, "Stephanie it's important they know about this."

"They'll just think I'm paranoid. I knew you'd believe me."

"Ok, just wait here while I look around."

After a few minutes of checking, Derek returned to Stephanie in the lounge.

"There's no one here Steph. Nothings been disturbed or damaged."

"Oh ok. I'm sure there was."

"Right, well I'm going to go now then…. You should get down the store tomorrow, get a security system."

"I will….."

Derek turned to walk towards the door when he felt a touch on his hand.

"Derek, I'm scared. Would you stay with me? Just tonight."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning to look at her. There was no question in his mind what he would do, "No Steph, I can't stay with you. I've got to get back to….." He stopped mid sentence as he watched her gaze move to the floor.

"Your son?" she whispered.

He shook his head ever so slightly

"No….. Look, let me drop you to your mom's. You'll be safe there."

As reluctant as she was, she agreed as it meant spending a little more time with Derek. She grabbed an overnight bag and was soon in the car with him.

They pulled up outside her mother's place and Derek turned to face her, "I'll watch you in safely."

"Ok and thanks Derek. I do appreciate this."

"It's ok. Just make sure you speak to the police."

"I will."

She didn't move though, just continued to stare at him. She leant over slightly and placed her hand on his hand that was resting on his knee, "You're a good man Derek. I hope she appreciates you."

He looked at her a little confused and then awkwardly moved his hand from underneath hers. He didn't say anything, but just looked over her shoulder towards the house.

With a disappointed look, Stephanie got out of the car and headed in, leaving Derek pondering her last comment.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,..,,.

As she heard the room door open, Emily quickly turned over so she was facing away from him. She heard his footsteps get closer and the sound of him undressing. She wasn't sure how long he'd been, but she was pretty sure it was more than an hour. As she felt his arms snake around her and the warmth of his chest against her back, she felt herself calm. She was still mad, there was no doubting that, but the sinking feeling of knowing he was with Stephanie was gone.

He took in the smell of her hair and the feel of her naked skin. She didn't move, but he knew she was awake. He could tell by her breathing. She definitely breathed differently when she was asleep, he had learned that much about her from the short time they had lived together. He went along with it though, just happy that she hadn't pushed him away and it wasn't long before they were both in a deep sleep.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,..,,..,.

The following morning he awoke to find she was no longer in his arms. After a couple of seconds of panic, he heard the shower going and he relaxed back down into the pillow.

Watching her walk on those long slender legs into the bedroom with just the smallest of towels on, he wanted nothing more than to jump up and grab her. He didn't though. He knew better this morning.

"Morning." He said cautiously.

She turned to look at him and smiled ever so slightly, "Morning."

She then busied herself with her overnight bag, grabbing what she needed to get ready.

"So, you not going to ask about last night then?"

"Oh yeah sorry. So did you find the stalker?"

There was the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"No, there was no one there."

"Really? Well I'll be."

Derek paused for a few seconds before answering her back, "Don't you believe her?"

Emily stood up, hands full of various items of clothing including a light blue pair of knickers Derek couldn't help but notice he hadn't seen before.

She looked at him straight in the eye, "You're the one that's known her for two years not me."

"You saw her the other day, she was hurt."

"Yes she was." There was no doubting this time that she was being sarcastic.

"Are you saying she did that to herself?"

"You're a profiler Derek, figure it out for yourself."

Derek took in a deep breath and held his hands to his face not knowing what to do with what Emily just said and what Stephanie said and done the night before.

Emily watched him and knew that this was going down a road she really didn't want it to so she went and sat next to him. Taking one of his hands away from his face with hers, she placed it in her lap,

"Derek, I'm sorry I snapped, I'm just a bit bummed our night got ruined. It was perfect up until she rang."

"I know but….."

Emily cut him off, "Forget it Derek. Get ready, we need to pick up Dillon."

He was far from sure Emily was really sorry. He guessed she was just trying to keep the peace.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,.,.,..,.,.,.,.,.,.

"Hey sweetie." Emily smiled as Dillon ran and jumped into her arms at Garcia's place.

"I missed you mommy."

"I missed you too. Did you have a good time?"

"Uh huh." He said nodding his head and then shifting his gaze to look over Emily's shoulder, spotting his father.

"Daddy!"

"Hey buddy." He said walking over to the both of them, kissing Dillon on the forehead. "You ready to go?"

"My stuff's upstairs still. I haven't packed it."

"Ok, come on then, let's go get it." Emily said as she carried Dillon away with her upstairs.

"So, how was your day?" Garcia asked Derek, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, it was good."

Her smile turned into a frown, "You're not convincing me. Did you not have a good time?"

Derek took a big sigh, "Pen, it was a fantastic day. We had a really good time until….." Derek wandered whether he should continue, but there was no going back now. Garcia wouldn't leave it alone.

"Until what?"

"Stephanie rang….. In the middle of the night."

"What!"

"Yeah, she reckons she's got a stalker. She wanted me to go round to check there wasn't anyone there."

"Derek Morgan, please tell me you didn't go."

"What you don't think I should? I would have gone for anyone."

"She's not just anyone though is she…. She's the woman you were in a relationship with only a few weeks ago. What would she have done if you were away?"

"I….." Derek stopped as he heard Emily footsteps making their way downstairs.

Dillon ran over and grabbed hold of Derek's hand, Emily not far behind carrying his bag.

"Thanks Pen for having him, I owe you."

Emily gave her friend a hug.

"You don't owe me anything. I love every second of it."

"I bet you do…. Dillon, give Aunty Penelope a kiss and say thank you."

Dillon released his grip of Derek, walked over to Garcia and stood on tip toe as she bent down to give him a kiss.

"Thank you Aunty P'nelope".

"You're welcome little man. Make sure you come round real soon."

Emily started to walk out of the house, "Come on you two, let's get home."

Before Derek moved he turned to Garcia, "Thanks baby girl. I'll see you at work on Monday."

"Derek…" Garcia said stopping him from leaving. She leant in and whispered into his ear, "Don't mess this up." And she pushed him out of the door playfully.

,.,.,,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,..,.,,.

As they pulled up outside the house and Derek went to get out of the car Emily stopped him, "Derek, are you ok to have him for an hour or so. I just want to pop to JJ's."

"Of course, but is everything alright?"

She looked at his face and couldn't help but feel guilty so she smiled at him and leant over to give him a sweet chaste kiss on the lips. "It's fine. I just need to collect some stuff from her to read about work. I've got my meeting on Monday."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Ok, have fun and say hi to JJ for me."

Se watched as Derek led Dillon up the path by the hand and she couldn't help but smile at the sight. They were crazy cute together.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Emily sat at JJ's kitchen table while JJ busied herself making coffee.

"So, come on then Em. Spill. What's happened?"

"Sorry to just turn up like this, I don't mean to intrude…"

"Emily, you're not intruding. This is what I'm here for. Now what's up?"

"Yesterday at the hotel, we had the best time. It was perfect….. Until Stephanie rang."

"She rang him? What for?"

Emily scoffed… "I thought I was clever confiscating his personal phone, but of course she has his work phone number… _for emergencies_. JJ she rang at 2am."

"What! You're kidding me?"

"No, she reckoned the stalker was back. She asked him to go and check."

"And let me guess, Derek Morgan just has to play hero and go to her."

"Yes. I bet that bitch had a smile from ear to ear when he said he would go to her. Am I being harsh? I mean that's what makes him a great guy right? That he wants to help people."

"Yes, but you know she's lying. He doesn't."

"I don't want him to think I'm being possessive or jealous. That's not me JJ. I don't normally put up with this bullshit. I feel like I'm a teenager again."

JJ chuckled as she handed Emily the coffee and sat down opposite her.

"What are you laughing at?"

"First of all Emily, why do you think you're _putting up _with this bullshit and treading so carefully?"

Emily stared at her friend and raised her eyebrows as JJ just smirked at her. It took a few seconds, but eventually a small smile crept across Emily's face too.

"Go on Emily, you can say it you know."

"Ok JJ, because I love him…. There I said it. Are you happy?"

"Yes I am. For both of you. Now, I don't think he should of gone to her, but he has no idea he's getting played does he?"

"No but I can't tell him. What if I do and he doesn't believe me? He could think I'm bitter and that could just push him back to her."

"That won't happen, but I understand what you saying. What are you going to do then?"

"I guess I'll see what her next move is, then decide."

"Ooh it's like you're at war. Derek Morgan has two women playing a silent game of chess over him and he doesn't even know."

"Shut up JJ, that's not even funny."

"It is. Because I know you'll win….. I wouldn't mess with you." JJ laughed.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Emily walked into the hallway of their house and shouted for Derek. Within a couple of seconds he came rushing out of the kitchen with Dillon following behind.

"What happened to you two?" She looked them up and down and they were both covered in flour and other food groups that she couldn't quite identify.

Derek looked down at Dillon, "Do you want to tell mommy what we did?"

Hew nodded his head to his father then looked at Emily, "We made you dinner mommy and a cake."

"Wow, that's great." She tried to smile, but looked up at Derek unconvinced.

"You made a cake?"

"Yes we did."

"But you couldn't even make pancakes a few weeks ago."

"Well, what's so hard about following a recipe?"

Emily laughed at him then turned back to Dillon, "So what did you make for dinner?"

"Chicken nuggets, fries and spaghetti hoops. Daddy let me choose."

"Well that sounds fantastic, more like daddy's range. I can't wait."

"You don't have to." Derek started ignoring the insult from Emily, "Dillon go take mommy to the table and I'll bring the dinner out."

The three of them sat down to eat but just as they were about to start Derek stopped them, "Oh Dillon. Do you remember you got something for mommy? Go get it."

"Oh yeah." He got up and ran off, leaving Emily looking at Derek confused. A few seconds later she heard his little footsteps running back towards her. In his hand he had a bunch of multi coloured flowers. He stood next to her and held them out to her, "Here mommy. Me and daddy picked these for you."

Derek watched as the biggest smile crept across her face. He loved that smile.

"Oh sweetie, they're lovely. Thank you so much." And she bent down to give him a kiss.

"Daddy picked them too. He needs a kiss."

Emily laughed and looked towards Derek, "Yes I guess he does deserve one."

She leant over and placed a sweet kiss on his cheek, "Thank you." She whispered as she moved back away from him.

After eating their dinner and the chocolate and cream sponge they had made, Derek got up to remove some of the plates. As he did, Emily looked to Dillon, "You and daddy are filthy. I think you need to get straight in the bath."

"I like being messy mommy."

"Yeah well, I like you being clean too."

"Do you like being messy daddy?"

Derek was stood behind Emily and he looked down towards her, smiling.

"I do like being messy….." Derek looked at Dillon and put his finger to his lip telling him to be quiet.

"May be mommy should try it sometime." He took some of the chocolate icing off the left over cake and smeared it on his lips. He leant over Emily's shoulder and kissed her on each cheek.

Dillon started giggling and it took Emily a few seconds to realise what he had done.

"Derek, what the hell are you doing?" She looked at Derek who was grinning, but was then distracted by the giggling four year old across the table. She stood up, "Two can play at that game" and she grabbed a handful of cream and smeared it on Derek's face.

Derek didn't retaliate, but just looked at Emily's chocolate covered face and smiled, "Look at him Em."

They both watched as their son was laughing uncontrollably. It was a wonderful sight.

He whispered into her ear, "This is precious Em."

She turned and smiled at him, "I know."

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

After showering, Derek walked in to their bedroom, just as Emily was taking her dirty T-shirt off to change into another. He walked up behind her and snaked his arms around her naked waist, kissing her shoulder gently.

"We ok?" He whispered.

She turned around, not escaping his grasp. "Yeah we're good."

"Emily, I just want to apologise for last night. I know if you'd of ran off in the middle of the night to help an ex-boyfriend, I wouldn't have liked it. I didn't think about it like that and that was naïve of me."

"It's ok. It's done now."

"Well I promise I will make it up to you. I had a great time yesterday and want many many more of those."

"Me too." She said and then kissed him.

"Em, do you really think she's lying?"

The smile on her face disappeared, "Derek, I don't want to talk about this now. You need to figure this out for yourself."

"Ok, but I promise you, I am not interested in her in the slightest. I have everything I want right here with me now. You and Dillon are by far the most important things in my life."

She leant into his body and rested her head on his shoulder, "I know."

"I sure hope you do."

**Ok, so thank you for all the reviews so far. I love the reaction of everyone to Stephanie. I didn't want him to go to her either, but I guessed Derek probably would, so I wrote it in. I have some ideas for the next chapter…. Hope you are still enjoying it. That chapter was pretty fluffy towards the end ;-)**


	14. Chapter 14

Stephanie sat down the road, out of sight from Derek's house. She knew their routine by now and she knew it was Derek's day off. She had watched him leave the house at three in the afternoon, knowing he was off to pick up Dillon from pre-school. As predicted, twenty minutes later his car approached the driveway of his house, so she pulled off in her own car.

"C'mon Dillon, undo your seat belt." Derek said, whilst grabbing some bags from the trunk of the car. Being distracted by what he was doing, it took a few seconds to realise Dillon was talking.

"What was that buddy?" He called out, still with his head in the trunk.

"I wasn't talking to you daddy."

Derek dropped what he was doing to find out what his son was up to.

As he lifted his head he heard a familiar voice.

"Hi Derek." A smiling Stephanie said

"Steph. What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to pop round and say thanks for the other night. I know it must have been an inconvenience for you coming out during the night."

"It was no problem Steph. You really didn't have to come round."

"No I'm glad I did. I get to finally meet this little fella."

Steph crouched down in front of Dillon and touched him on his arm, "Hey Dillon. I'm a friend of your daddy's."

Dillon looked at his father and then back towards Stephanie, his usual shyness around strangers coming out.

Derek looked back to the house and saw Emily at the window. He quickly turned back towards Stephanie.

"Steph, thanks for coming round but I have to get Dillon inside now."

Stephanie looked up to Derek with a slight look of shock at his eagerness to get away from her, "But…"

Before she could finish her sentence, she watched Derek's head spin round at the sound of the front door opening.

Derek watched as Emily walked towards them. He could see the rage in her eyes and he looked at her silently pleading with her to calm down. Giving him a look that would sour milk, she walked straight past him.

"Dillon, come here please."

Dillon immediately did as she said, recognising Emily's 'don't mess around' tone. He ran to stand by her legs and Emily protectively put her hands over his shoulders pulling him in closer to him.

"What are you doing here?" Emily asked Stephanie, her stare not faltering.

Stephanie stood up to face Emily eye to eye, and Emily watched as the other woman's features softened. She knew what was coming.

"I just came to say thanks to Derek."

"What for?"

"For coming to my house the other night. I know he had to leave you and Dillon to come to me, and I'm grateful. I was really scared."

Emily felt the rage inside of her grow. This woman was good at putting on a damsel in distress act. Emily knew she would be laughing inside at the fact she'd highlighted the fact that Derek had left her to go to Stephanie's aid.

"Ok, well you've said thanks. You can go now."

There was venom in Emily's voice, and Stephanie took full advantage of it. She widened her eyes and had a look on her face that resembled a puppy dog. She slightly bowed her head and then looked past Emily towards Derek.

"Oh… ok… I just wanted to give Dillon this."

Both Derek and Emily looked at Stephanie slightly dumbfounded. They watched as she reached in her bag and pulled out a wrapped present.

She looked back to Derek with a pathetic weak smile, "I know it's late, but I got him a birthday present."

"How did you know it was his birthday?" Emily spat.

"Derek told me."

Emily turned straight to look at Derek who looked confused.

"I didn't tell you it was Dillon's birthday."

"Sure you did Derek. When you came round the other day."

"No I didn't."

"Yeah you did. May be you don't remember. It was when you dropped me at my mom's."

Emily gave Derek a scowl and then turned back to Stephanie, but as she turned she found she had crouched back down in front of Dillon again.

"Here Dillon. It's a late birthday present. I hope you like it."

Dillon took the present cautiously. He may be four, but he knew when his mommy was mad and sensed that things weren't good. He didn't say a word.

"Dillon, give that here sweetie." Emily's voice softened as she spoke to her son. "Get inside, I'll be in in a minute."

As Dillon ran past, Derek moved forward to stand next to Emily.

"Here you can have this back." Emily said handing the present back to Stephanie.

Puppy dog eyes returning she looked at Emily as if she were shocked, "But it's just a present. Just because we broke up doesn't mean me and Derek can't be friends right?"

Both women turned to look at Derek who was stood looking like a rabbit caught in a head light. Emily looked at him, willing him to speak.

Derek looked to Stephanie, "Steph may be it would be a good idea if you left now."

"Oh, ok. But you can give this to Dillon can't you? It's just something little. I want him to have it."

She held out the small package to Derek who hesitated for a couple of seconds, but then took the package.

He watched as Emily's eyes widened and then moved back towards Stephanie.

"Ok, well I'll be going then. Take care Derek. I hope Dillon likes the present."

"Yeah, I'm sure he will."

Stephanie turned, walked back to her car and Emily followed a few paces behind. Stephanie got in the car unaware of Emily behind her until she shut the door. She wound the window down and Emily bent down, wanting to be close enough so that Derek couldn't hear.

"I'm going to saying one thing to you Stephanie, you messing around with me and Derek is one thing, but you go near Dillon again you won't know what's hit you. Do you hear me?"

"He's Derek's son too Emily. He doesn't seem too bothered about me being around."

"Yes, well I am and believe me, you won't have anything to do with Dillon."

"What, are you threatened by me? Afraid he'll do to you what he did to me?"

Emily let out a little chuckle and looked Stephanie up and down, "Not a chance."

"He was quick enough to come to my place the other night."

"He's just too nice to say no and you know it. That's why you're doing this."

"May be next time he won't come back so quick. May be next time he'll be extra nice to me. Old habits die hard Emily don't they?"

"If he wants you Stephanie, he's free to leave any time he likes, but he won't. Now I'm not arguing with you anymore. Disappear."

Without giving the woman time to respond, Emily turned on her heels and walked back towards a lost looking Derek. As she got closer he went to speak to her,

"What did you say to her?"

Emily looked straight through him and walked past him into the house.

Derek followed close behind and as he walked in the front door he heard Emily shout for Dillon. A split second later he was running up to her. Emily picked him up and gave him and kiss on the cheek, "Did you have a good day at school baby."

"Yes mommy. I drew a picture for you. It's in my bag. It's of me, you and daddy."

"Wow. You can show it me later and we can put it one the fridge, ok? Do you want to go up and play in your room for a bit?"

"Ok mommy."

Emily put him down and he ran off up the stairs. She remained routed to the spot, feeling Derek's presence behind her, but not knowing how to start this conversation off.

She didn't need to though. She felt his hand on her arm and just about heard the soft, deep voiced, 'Emily' escape his lips.

She turned to look at him and he could see anger in her eyes. But it wasn't just anger, there was a sadness too.

"I didn't know she was going to show up here Emily."

"Yes I know that."

"So why are you so mad with me?"

"Why? Because you didn't back me up out there."

"What do you mean?"

"You just stood there and made her think it was ok to come to our home unannounced. Well it's not."

"I told her she should go."

"Yeah not very convincingly. And you didn't tell me you took her to her mother's."

"You didn't want to talk to me about it remember?" Derek's tone getting a little more frustrated.

"And I don't want her anywhere near Dillon. I can't believe you took that present off her after I gave it her back. How do you think that looked?"

"What do you mean?"

"A win for her, that's what it means. Can't you see she's playing games? I wanted you to figure that out for yourself, but when she starts involving Dillon, I'm not having it."

"Why do you think she's playing games?"

"I don't think it Derek. I know it. Will you stop being so god damn naïve."

Emily watched as Derek's face changed to one of anger… his tone too, "Naïve?"

Knowing them fighting would be a win for Stephanie, she paused to compose herself. Putting her hand to her forehead she closed her eyes and shook her head slightly, "Can't you see this is what she wants? To cause this between us." Her voice had softened.

As quickly as he had gotten angry, Derek felt himself calm watching Emily quite obviously stressed and struggling over this.

Taking a small step so he was even closer to her he lifted his hand and gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "Hey, how long have you been feeling this way?"

Her big brown eyes slowly moved upwards to meet his.

"I kind of suspected it when she turned up here when you were out. Remember?"

Derek nodded.

"Then when she came here and said she'd been attacked, that's when I knew."

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

"Because I didn't want you to think I was some crazy jealous girlfriend making it all up. I wanted you to see it for yourself."

"Emily, I will always believe what you tell me. I have no reason to doubt you. Please, you have to tell me what's on your mind. I am a guy. We're not very good at this stuff you know?"

He winked as he said and she couldn't help but smile at him. No matter how many times he did that to her, it always made her giggle inside.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you. Garcia and JJ are gonna be all like _'I told you so'"_

Derek's eyebrows shot up, "JJ and Garcia know?"

"Oh…. Yes, well I had to talk to someone otherwise I would have ended up throttling her."

Emily watched as a big grin crept across his face.

"What?"

"I'm just picturing you fighting with another woman over me."

"Derek Morgan, there's not a chance I would fight over any man."

He grabbed her round the waist as she made a pathetic attempt to pull away from him.

"You wouldn't fight over me?" He stuck out his bottom lip and pulled her in closer to him. She shook her head slowly smiling at him. "Well I'd fight over you." He said as he leant in further to kiss her on the neck.

He moved his kisses down to her collarbone and whispered, "I'd fight to the death for you."

He pulled back, not letting go of her and looked her straight in the eyes, "I mean it. You know that right?"

Letting her hands wander along his strong arms she gave a sweet smile, "I know Derek and that's….."

She hesitated.

"That's what?" He said in his deep, soft tone.

"…That's why I love you. I'm sorry, I should have known you'd believe me."

"It's ok, she was pretty convincing."

"You didn't know she was like that?"

"Not a clue." He said shaking his head. "But let's not talk about her anymore. She's gone. I've got enough on my plate with you two."

"Oi!" She said playfully slapping him on his arm.

**Ok… that was a quick chapter. Thanks for all your reviews… they mean a lot!**

**And a bit of shameless plugging.. If you're on Twitter, come and follow Morgan_Prentiss for some fun ;-)**


	15. Chapter 15

**When I first wrote this story, I didn't expect it to go this far, so when I have come to write Emily coming back to the FBI, I remembered that at the beginning of the story, the team weren't together anymore…. So I apologise for not being able to write all the characters in. **

**This chapter is inspired by Kat-D11…**

**Once again… thanks for all the reviews guys… they keep me writing and make my day….**

It was Monday morning and Emily strolled into Quantico. She had been back for a couple of weeks and had settled in much quicker than she could of hoped for. It was of course made far easier for the fact she was working with JJ in the Counter Terrorism Division.

As much as she would have loved to go back to the BAU where her passion lay, it just wasn't possible with Morgan as Unit Chief. Not only was there the no fraternisation rule, but the thought of taking orders from Morgan on a daily basis was not one to relish…. Mainly because she knew he would enjoy every second of it.

Dumping her bags on the desk, she smiled at the sound of JJ, "Morning Emily."

"Hey JJ. Good weekend?"

"Yeah. We went to Will's parents. You?"

"Apart from Derek getting called in on a case yesterday, it was great."

"Anymore problems from Stephanie since she came round last week?"

"Derek says she's called and texted a couple of times, but he's ignored her. I'm certain he's minimising it to stop me getting mad."

JJ chuckled, "I don't blame him. I still can't believe she had the nerve to turn up at your place."

"JJ I could have ripped her eyes out when she touched Dillon. It's a good job Derek was there, I swear."

As JJ laughed, she was distracted by her computer beeping at her telling her she had mail. She read the screen silently.

'_Tell Emily we have a lunch date. Come to my office at 12.30._

_Your one any only scrumptious techy,_

_Penelope Garcia xx'_

JJ turned to Emily who was now settled at her desk, "Any plans for lunch?"

"Nope" She replied without looking up from what she was doing.

"Well you have now."

Emily looked up with a smile, "Penelope?"

"Yup."

"Ok…. Not that I could have said no."

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Walking towards Garcia's office, Emily and JJ were greeted by a smiling Morgan,

"Ladies"

"Morgan." The younger agent replied.

"Sir." Emily said laughing.

Morgan moved in a bit closer to her, "Will you stop calling me 'Sir' here."

"What? Just at home?" Emily replied with a smirk causing JJ to chuckle.

"I wouldn't mind if you didn't sound so sarcastic every time you said it." Morgan said in a low voice.

"OK…. _Sir_."

Morgan shook his head with a small smirk and rolled his eyes, "So what are you doing down here anyway?"

"Lunch date with Penelope." JJ replied.

"Oh, I'll just stay here and work then on my own then."

Emily stuck out her bottom lip looking towards him, "Well there's no time for fun when you're unit chief."

"Yeah, don't I know it. Well have fun. I'll see _you_ later." He said winking towards Emily. As he walked past her, he lightly brushed the back of her hand with his. What he really wanted to do was give her a kiss, but Strauss definitely wouldn't approve.

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The three ladies walked out of Quanitco engrossed in conversation.

"I got Dillon and Henry a present. You need to come to mine soon for a play date then I can give them to them."

"Pen, you have to stop spoiling them." JJ said with a warm smile.

"Yeah and is the play date for them or for you?" Emily laughed.

"Firstly, I will never stop spoiling them. They are by far the most adorable kids I have ever met."

"You're biased." Emily said dryly.

Ignoring Emily's comment, Garcia continued, "And as far as the play date is concerned…"

Garcia suddenly stopped mid sentence and stood still. It took a couple of seconds for her two friends to realise and when they did, they looked back at her confused.

"What's up?" JJ asked

"Oh this isn't going to be good." Garcia's face slightly grimacing.

Emily took a step towards her. "What are you talking about?"

"Look who's here." Garcia nodded her head indicating to a spot across the road. JJ and Emily immediately turned to see Stephanie making her way across. As she was half way, it became obvious that she had just realised the three women were there and there was no turning back.

JJ looked at Garcia and gave an awkward smirk, but Emily hadn't moved her stare from Stephanie. The two women locked eyes and as they did Stephanie straightened up and practically marched up to Emily. Before she could speak, the brunette agent got in first.

"What are you doing here?" Her tone wasn't angry, more bored and disinterested.

"I want to speak to Derek."

"Well call him then."

"He won't answer my calls. No doubt that's down to you."

"He's a grown man. He can do what he wants. May be you need to take the hint."

"I'd rather hear it from him. He was quite happy to talk to me up until the other day."

"I don't think his work place is the right place to do this."

"You're here."

Emily let out a little chuckle, "May be that's something to do with the fact I work here."

Stephanie's face turned a little more sour, "I suppose sleeping with Derek helped with that right?"

As Emily went to answer she felt a little nudge on her arm as JJ came to stand next to her. "Look, that's enough." JJ started, "You really should leave. Emily doesn't need to justify why she's working here to you, but for the record she's here because she's one of the best agents I've ever known."

Stephanie looked shocked at the blonde's intervention. She turned her gaze to Garcia who was still stood behind the two agents, looking awkward, "Penelope, will you just let him know I came."

"I err…. I'm sorry. I don't think I should get involved Steph."

"What? Has _she _poisoned you against me as well?" As Stephanie said the word 'she' with venom, she looked at Emily like she was a piece of dirt.

"No she hasn't." Garcia said softly. She was never one to get involved in conflict and this situation made her feel really uncomfortable.

"Oh my god. What is it with _this_ woman…?" Stephanie said pointing at Emily. "She just waltzes back here after leaving you all for four years and you just forgive her like that? I guess using Derek's child to worm her way back in helped."

Again, Emily went to say something, but before she knew it Garcia was stood the other side of her to JJ.

"Steph, I did like you, but you're out of order here. " Garcia said, still managing to sound sweet and kind.

"Pen, I'm the one that got cheated on yet I'm the villain?"

"I'm not saying that was ok Steph, but what you're doing now is way out of line. You're trying to break up a family by tricking Derek. That's not right."

"I guess there was no way any of you were going to turn her away when she has Derek's child."

"Ok, that's enough now, let's…. "

Emily was interrupted by JJ. Both her and Garcia had took another step forward,

"For reasons you will never understand Emily had to leave us. We all wanted her back more than anything."

"Yeah none more so than Derek." Garcia added.

Stephanie shot Garcia an evil glance, hurt by her apparent sudden turn.

"Yeah well Derek has a track record of retuning to his ex's. May be history will repeat itself."

At this point, Emily was content to let her friends continue. She watched Stephanie boiling over with a smirk on her face.

Garcia couldn't help but be mad now. The thought of someone intentionally trying to break up her best friends' family was too much. She had to try and end this once and for all.

"Derek Morgan will not go anywhere near you again. He loves Emily. He always has. I'm sorry to tell you that Steph, but it was always her."

"Derek is a player. You know it and I know it."

Garcia shook her head, "There's no way he'll do anything to risk losing her or his son. He has everything he could ever want right here."

JJ continued, "If you ever think of trying to cause problems between them again, me and Penelope will not hesitate in telling Derek exactly what you're like. If you want to leave him with a half decent memory of you, you'll back off now. If not, the gloves are off."

"You're sure he'll believe you? I can turn it on when I need to."

Garcia almost laughed, "Steph, he'll believe us because we're his family. We always will be. Emily and Dillon have only cemented that further."

Stephanie looked at the two blonds who had almost formed a protective barrier between her and Emily. She looked through them to see the brunette's smile.

"What goes around comes around. Believe me. You may think you've won this one, but you'll get what you deserve."

"I haven't won anything. This was never a game for me. People break up Steph. Get over it….Now trott on."

Stephanie was finally beaten. She shot all three women one final scowl and then walked back across the road. They all stood and watched her get in her car and drive off.

"Well that was an interesting lunch date." JJ started.

"Yeah I bet she didn't expect that when she turned up." Garcia said with a chuckle.

"No, but I have to give it to her. She's got some nerve taking all three of us on." JJ laughed.  
Both women turned to face Emily who was unusually quiet. JJ raised her eyebrows towards her, willing her to speak.

"Thanks for sticking up for me guys."

"You think it would have been any other way?" JJ asked with a frown.

"No, I just didn't know if you'd want to get involved."

Emily said that looking particularly at Garcia. She knew she didn't like to see the bad in people and saying those things to Stephanie probably went against the grain for her.

"Normally I wouldn't, but she crossed a line." Garcia started. "She's trying to split you two up and I want more than anything for this to work out for you guys. We've waited like years and years for this to happen and Dillon is the most perfect thing. Two people who produced him are meant to be together."

Emily smiled, "Thanks Pen. That means a lot."

"Right you two, let's get some lunch. I'm starving." JJ said.

"Ok, I'm buying. I think I owe you two that much."

"Well I'm not arguing….." JJ started, "Oh and _'trott on'_? That was funny."

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Later that evening, Emily sat holding a big glass of red wine with a second glass waiting for Derek after he put Dillon to bed. Emily closed her eyes, stretched out her legs along the length of the sofa and let her head fall back. She thought about the day's events, hoping that was the last she would hear from Stephanie. Now that she knew that JJ and Garcia were aware of what she had been doing, she hoped Stephanie would back off.

A few minutes later she felt her glass being taken out of her hand and a familiar presence above. He wasn't touching her, but she could sense him without opening her eyes.

She let a smile creep across her face which was all the invitation he needed to kiss her sweetly on the lips. He brushed the side of her face as she opened her eyes.

"Hey." She whispered.

"Hey." He smiled back at her.

"Did you get him off ok?"

"No problem."

She shuffled up the sofa and made enough room for him to sit down. He picked up her legs and placed them across his lap lightly caressing her calves.

"Em, can I talk to you about something?"

The smile on her face quickly disappeared, "Sure. What is it?"

"I saw Stephanie outside today talking to you three. What did she want?"

Emily moved awkwardly and rubbed her forehead, "Oh you saw?"

"Yeah. Why didn't you tell me? What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? She came to Quantico for nothing?"

"Derek, do you trust me?"

"Of course."  
"Well, will you trust me when I say that it's nothing to worry about? Can we just forget about her?"

"Em, as far as I'm concerned she's forgotten, but if she's causing you problems I should speak to her."

"That's up to you, but I can handle it. I don't think she'll do anything else now anyway."

"Ok, I'll leave it with you, but if she does anything else please tell me. I don't want her to cause any problems between us."

"She won't. I promise."

Derek leant over and kissed her again, this time letting his lips linger on hers a little longer than before.

"Good, because I don't ever want this to end." He whispered into her mouth.

As she snaked her hands around his neck and let herself melt into the kiss, she finally felt safe. She finally knew that no matter what Stephanie did, they would be ok. The small niggling feeling she had had in the pit of her stomach for the past few weeks had gone because she knew she loved Derek Morgan and Derek Morgan loved her. She just wanted to be here…. With him….. Forever…..


	16. Chapter 16

Apologies for this, but I just wanted to get people's opinion…. I was going to just give them a happy ending and bid farewell to Stephanie…Is that what folks want?

I don't think there's any chance Morgan will be fooled by Stephanie any longer, but she has the potential to go a bit psycho, get pretty nasty and exact revenge on Emily…. So I'm asking…. Do you want me to bring Stephanie back or continue with fluffy stuff?

Regardless, the next chapter will be fluff, because I just love a bit of Derek and Emily fluff


	17. Chapter 17

**Thank you so much for all the reviews and opinions on Stephanie…. A lot of you want her back! But also want the fluff….. So here as promised is just a load of fluff. However, it doesn't look like Stephanie is done just yet…. Stay tuned!**

**Oh and just for the record, Dillon was playing soccer well before the episode in CM where Jack was playing…. Just saying ;-)**

It was Saturday morning and Emily rolled over in the king sized bed she shared with Derek. She outstretched her arm, eyes still closed, searching for his naked, warm skin, but it was nowhere to be found. Opening her eyes, she quickly focused them on the alarm clock which read 09:07. Although it was still early, since having Dillon, this was a lie in.

She toyed with the idea of getting up and finding her boys, but decided that a few more minutes of dozing wouldn't hurt.

Derek was downstairs in the kitchen with Dillon, surrounded by the dirty plates and left overs from their breakfast.

"Daddy, what are we going to make mommy for breakfast?"

"What do you think she'll like?"

"Well, she likes pancakes, but she also likes scrambled eggs on toast."  
"So which one do you want to make?"

Dillon stood in the middle of the kitchen, arms folded and eyes looking up to the ceiling, deep in thought. Watching his son, Derek smiled at the fact Dillon wanted to get this choice just right, but it was taking a little longer than he thought necessary.

"Dillon, it'll be lunchtime if you don't hurry up."

Dillon shot his father an annoyed glance. Derek recognised the eyebrows and the frown as his own, but the big brown eyes were definitely Emily's.

"Let's make her scrambled eggs and I want to stir the eggs daddy."

"Ok buddy, I'll crack them into the bowl for you."

Dillon watched intently as the eggs slid from the shell into the bowl. Derek took a fork and went to start beating the eggs.

"No daddy, I want to do it."

"I was just gonna start it off for you."

"I can do it daddy. I want to do it for mommy."

Derek laughed and gently touched Dillon on the head, "Ok buddy, you do it. I'll make the coffee and toast."

As the pan heated up, Derek glanced over Dillon's shoulder. He was stirring the eggs way too slow, "You done there Dillon? The pan's ready."

"Yes daddy it's done."

Derek lifted the bowl over Dillon's head and gave the eggs a quick mix out of his sight. Pouring it in to the pan, Derek said to Dillon, "Do you want to go and pick a couple of flowers out of the back garden?"

"Yeah ok… oh and I want to get the picture I drew as well."  
"Ok, go. Hurry up. This is nearly ready."

Dillon scurried off as Derek dished up Emily's breakfast. By the time he ran back the tray was laid and ready to go.

"C'mon then. Let's get this up to mommy."

"Can I carry the tray?"

"It's a bit heavy."

Derek watched as Dillon's face turned to disappointment. His eagerness to please his mommy was adorable.

"I tell you what, I'll carry the tray up the stairs and then you can take it from there. Ok?"

Dillon nodded with a smile.

Dillon raced up the stairs ahead of his father and waited at the top for him to catch up. He held out his hands to take the tray.

"I'll carry the coffee and you can take the rest." Derek whispered so that Emily couldn't hear.

Derek carefully balanced the tray in Dillon's hands and then gently pushed the door to their bedroom open.

Concentrating real hard, Dillon took small steps into the room and stopped short a couple of steps from the bed where he could see his mommy sleeping with her back to them. Her doze had turned into a deep sleep.

Derek placed the coffee on the bed side table and then signalled to his son.

"Mommy!"

"Shhhh, you don't need to shout buddy."

"Mommy." Dillon repeated, a little quieter, this time leaning his forward slightly hoping she would hear better.

Emily began to stir and rolled over to face the origin of the voice. As soon as she set eyes on him and big sleepy smile crept across her face, "Hey sweetie."

"We bought you breakfast in bed mommy."

"Wow. I can see that."

Derek could see Dillon was struggling with the weight now and he wouldn't be able to lift it up to her so he reached down, "Here, let me take that and you hop on the bed with mommy."

There was no hesitation from Dillon. He handed over the tray and jumped on top of Emily wrapping his arms around her neck and giving her a small peck on the lips.

"Well, this is the best wake up call I've had in a long time." Emily chuckled looking up at Derek.

He looked back at her with a smile and raised eyebrows, "What my morning wake up calls aren't as much fun?" And he winked.

"Daddy, you come on the bed too. Next to me." Dillon said, patting the bed.

"Ok…..You sit next to mommy so I can give her the breakfast."

Dillon did as he was told and Derek lowered the tray onto Emily's lap, who had now sat up against the headboard.

"Ooh this looks lovely sweetie. Did you make it?"

"Uh huh. With daddy. I stirred the eggs."

Emily took a bite, "Ummm, this is good. Thank you."

"And I drew a picture."

Dillon took the rolled up picture off the tray and opened it up. Derek, who was now sat the other side of Dillon, and Emily both moved in to look at it.

"There's lots of people on here. Who are they all?" Derek asked.

Dillon began pointing at the various stick men and women he had drawn, "Well, that's me, you and mommy in the middle, then that's Aunty P'nelope and Uncle Kevin. That's Nanny Morgan, that's Aunty JJ… " and so the list went on. As Dillon went through all the names, Derek and Emily looked at each other and smiled. They really had managed to build a wonderful family around them.

Emily pulled Dillon further into her, "Hey sweetie, you have lots of people who love you eh? I told you you would like living here."

Dillon nodded his head, "I miss playing soccer with James from next door, but I like it better here. I have lots of people to play with and Aunty P'nelope always buys me presents and sweets. When she buys me sweets she likes to eat them too but I don't mind sharing them with her. She's my best friend."

"Well, you really do take after your father don't you?" Emily laughed.

Dillon turned to Derek, "Is she your best friend too daddy?"

Derek paused for a couple of seconds and looked over to Emily with a sweet smile, "Actually, my best friend is your mommy, but Aunty Penelope is the best kind of best friend you can have."

Emily, who was looking back at him, let her smile grow even wider. Derek thought to himself that that smile hadn't left her face since she'd woken up. He would do his best to keep it there for the rest of the day.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Derek continued.

"I don't know, what do you want to do baby?" Emily said stroking the boy's hair.

"Can we go to the park? I want to play soccer with daddy and feed the ducks and ooh we could have a picnic."

Emily laughed, "Sounds like a good plan. Now you go and play for a bit while we get ready."

"Ok."

Dillon jumped off the bed and ran to his room. As he did, Derek picked up the tray off Emily's lap and placed it on the floor.

"What are you doing Derek Morgan?"

"Hey, I just wanted to do this…." He leant in and kissed her sweetly on the lips…. "I never got to say hi when I got in from work last night. You were out for the count."

"Sorry…..What time did you get in?"

"It was about one."  
"Tough case?" She asked as she saw a little sadness creep across his face.

"Aren't they all Em? Anyway, let's not talk about it. This is all the therapy I need to take my mind off it."

He kissed her a little more and he knew as she kissed him back she was trying to pull the sadness out of him and swallow it herself.

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Emily sat on the picnic blanket in the park, sipping lemonade watching Dillon and Derek kick a soccer ball around. Considering Derek had never touched a soccer ball until a couple of months ago, he seemed pretty good with it, although he was playing against a four year old boy. Derek managed to kick the ball a little too hard and another boy, probably a year older than Dillon picked it up. She watched as Derek went over to fetch the ball and started talking to the father of the boy who was holding a baby girl, probably ten months old she thought. Dillon ran over to the men and stood at Derek's side, looking up at his father as he talked and eventually running around with the other boy.

A few minutes later they both walked back over to Emily and sat down.

"Here sweetie, have this drink. You've been running around for ages."

Dillon took the juice box without hesitation and started sucking on the straw.

"Who was the little boy you made friends with?"

"His name is Jacob. He's nearly five and he likes soccer too. I'm going to play with him again in a bit." His attention was quickly drawn away as he saw two little girls walking by with ice creams.

"Mommy can I have an ice cream?"

"Sure." Emily reached over and picked out a quarter of a sandwich from the picnic basket, "Here eat this while I go over and get you one."

He quickly took the sandwich and started eating it, knowing that as soon s he finished he'd have his ice cream.

Emily stood up, "I'll be right back. Do you want anything?" She asked looking at Derek.

"No, I'm good thanks."

"Try and give him a bit more sandwich before I get back."

"Ok."

As Emily walked back from the ice cream van, she cold see Derek and Dillon were deep in conversation with their backs to her. She stopped a few steps away just to take in the sweet view.

"Daddy, I hope you don't have to work hard like you did before."

"What do you mean buddy?"

"Well it meant you didn't know me when I was a baby."

Derek hesitated for a few seconds and Emily's heart sank a little. She guessed this was bought on by the father holding his baby girl.

"I know I wasn't around Dillon and I really really wish I was. I promise you that won't happen again. Ok?"

Dillon nodded.

"But even though I wasn't there, I always loved you. You know that right?"

"Yes, mommy told me."

"Good, I'm glad she did. What else did she tell you?"

"That you were handsome like me. And strong and kind and good…. Oh and clever. She said lots of things about you every day."

"Really? That's nice. I thought about her every day too."

Emily could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yes. Well she is your best friend daddy."

"She certainly is."

"And she's pretty isn't she?"

"Yes. Your mommy is beautiful."

They paused for a couple of seconds and Emily was about to rejoin them, but Dillon started again.

"Daddy, Nanny Morgan told me about your sisters and showed me a photo."

"Did she? Yes they're my little sisters."

"Jacob has a little sister too. Does that mean I get a little sister too so I can be a big brother?"

Emily's eyes widened and she wondered whether she should go to Derek's rescue, but curiosity got the better of her.

"Not everyone gets to have a brother or sister."

"Mommy doesn't have one does she?"

"No she doesn't, but may be you will one day."

"I'd like that daddy."

"You know what, so would I kiddo. Very much. She'd be real pretty like your mommy."

Dillon nodded and finished off eating the last bite of sandwich.

Emily took a few paces and placed a loving hand on top of Derek's head. She wasn't going to let him know what she'd just heard, but wanted to thank him for it all the same.

"One ice cream for my little soccer star." Emily said handing the ice cream with chocolate fudge sauce to Dillon. "So what have you two been talking about?"

"Boys talk, right Dillon?"

Derek held out his fist to Dillon who replicated his father. They lightly tapped their fists together, earning a roll of the eyes from Emily.

"What?" Derek asked smirking.

"I can't believe you taught him that."

"Hey it's a man thing."

Looking at that cheeky, yet sexy grin, Emily couldn't help but lean over and give him a gentle kiss.

"What was that for?"

"Just being you Derek."

"Really?" And an even bigger grin crept across his face.

"Oh dear, as if I needed to massage that ego of yours anymore." Emily said with a smile and another role of the eyes.

Dillon stood up, still with ice cream in his hands.

"Where are you going mister?" Emily asked.

"I'm going to see Jacob. He's over there playing." He said pointing to the older boy.

"Don't you want to finish your ice cream first?"

"I can do both mommy."

Derek smiled at Emily, "He gets that from you."

"Whatever…. Go on then and don't run off. Stay right over there ok?"

Dillon nodded and ran straight over to Jacob.

Derek shifted so he was sat right next to Emily and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Come here you." He said kissing her on her forehead.

She let her head rest on his shoulder and leant her body weight against his.

"I'm so glad we're here." He breathed.

"What? In the park?"

"No, I mean, that we got to this place. You and me. With our track records, it could so easily have been a different story."

"Yeah I know." She said letting out a little chuckle. "Who'd of thought you and me eh?"

"Yeah I bet there's a bet on at Quantico as to how long this lasts."

Emily didn't respond, but he could sense she was frowning.

"Hey I'm joking." He said pulling her closer into him.

"I know. But I bet that's what everyone thinks."

"Who cares? I know I don't. The only thing that matters is right here."

"I know." She whispered and turned her face to give him a little peck on his neck.

That peck sent shivers all down his body which he quickly had to subdue. This wasn't the time or the place, but it still amazed him that the smallest touch from her had such an effect on him.

They both sat for a while in silence, watching Dillon with his new friend. Then with no prompt, Derek said, "I'm sorry Emily."

She didn't move.

"What for?"

"For all that shit you went through with Stephanie. I wish you'd of told me, but I understand why you didn't. You will tell me if she does anything else? Please?"

"Ok."

"Promise?"

"Yes I promise Derek."

"You know she was never a threat to you. Not even close. Just remember that."

Emily chuckled, "Didn't you realise she was a little crazy?"

"No, I dated the woman for nearly two years. I guess I never really knew her at all. Besides, all you women are a little crazy."

Before he ended the sentence he braced himself. True to form, Emily pulled out of his arms.

"You women?" She pushed him causing him to fall back slightly, him managing to steady himself by putting his hands on the floor behind him whilst laughing at the same time.

"If you want crazy Derek, I'll show you crazy."

"Ok ok." Derek said, hands in the air in surrender. "I don't want crazy… I want you just the way you are." And he winked.

That wink got her every time. Although she tried her best not to show it, she couldn't help the smile that crept across her face. She shook her head slightly, "You really know how to turn it on when you need to don't you?"

"Hey I mean every word of it." He leant in and placed his lips a fraction away from hers and smiled.

"I know you do…. And I love you for it." She whispered as she moved in to close the gap between them….

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It was Monday morning at Quantico. Derek knocked on Garcia's office door and let himself in.

"Hey Penelope. Good morning."

"Good morning baby cakes. Good weekend?"

"Yeah it was great. By the way, my son says you are his best friend."

He watched as a big grin appeared across her face, "Yeah well he has good taste in techies. You do know this means he will grow up to be a computer geek."

"Well I'd be very proud if he does baby girl."

"So what can I do for you this morning?"

"I was after a favour actually….later today. Nothing to do with work."

"Ok, go on."

"Would you come shopping with me?"

"Shopping? What for?"

"I just need your help picking something out for Emily."

"For Emily? What?"

Derek didn't say anything, just watched as a look of realisation crept across Garcia's face. "Wait you mean….?"


	18. Chapter 18

Morgan and Garcia stood hovering over the jewellery counter, "What do you think about that one?" Morgan said pointing to a platinum engagement ring with a solitary diamond.

Garcia's eyes widened, "Errr have you seen the price tag Derek?"

"Course. Look, this is once in a lifetime right?"

Morgan continued studying the ring and took a few seconds to realise Garcia hadn't responded. He looked up to see her staring back at him with a big smile, but sad eyes and a solitary tear running down her cheek.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Derek said concerned.

"Nothing's wrong Derek. I'm just so happy for you both. I can't believe this is happening. And Dillon is so amazing and…."

"Hey hey, slow down Penelope." He smiled at her.

"To think a few months ago we thought we'd never see her again and now this. It's like a dream."

"It sure is….. Now will you help me choose?"

"Derek, that one is perfect. Get that one."

"Ok baby girl. I will."

"See, you didn't me."

"Penelope, I will always need you. I need you to keep me in line. I don't wanna mess this up."

"Well I'll make sure that doesn't happen, although I don't think you'll need my help. Just remember she loves you whatever happens ok?"

Derek smiled back, "I know…. Right. I'll get this, then I'm taking you for coffee."

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"So. How are you going to do it then?" Garcia asked sipping her cappuccino.

"Do what?"

"Propose Derek…. Haven't you thought about that bit?"

"Oh yeah. I was thinking about taking her away somewhere…. Somewhere we've never been before so it can be our place."

"Ooh a dirty weekend." Garcia giggled.

"I don't think it will be very dirty with a certain mini me running around."

"Well let me have him then. When she says yes, you're going to want to celebrate right." Garcia said raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Derek chuckled, "When? You're sure she'll say yes?"

"Of course she will."

"Ok, can you have him this weekend?"

"Nope, no good. It's Rossi's birthday remember? We're all going to his place."

"Oh yeah. Ok the weekend after then?"

"Sure…. Ooh I'm so excited."

Garcia clapped her hands silently and grinned like a cheshire cat.

"Are you going to be able to keep this quiet that long Penelope?"

"I promise I will."

"Not even JJ ok?"

"Ok. I won't tell a sole."

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Derek sat on the floor with Dillon playing with his toy cars as Emily got ready upstairs for Rossi's birthday dinner. He heard the familiar tone of Emily's mobile phone and looked round to see it on the coffee table. He leant over and picked it up in case it was JJ or Garcia, but it was neither. It was just a number. No name.

He went to place it back down, but something made him look back. The last few digits were familiar. He pulled his own phone out of his pocket and found Stephanie's number. It was her. What on earth was she doing ringing Emily?

Derek felt the anger in him rise straight away. He deleted the message telling her she had a missed call and turned the phone off, hoping he would have enough time before she noticed.

Using his own phone, he dialled Garcia.

"Hi my hunk of burning love." He heard at the other end.

"Hey Penelope. I need a favour."

"Name it."

"Can you pick up Emily on the way to Rossi's. I'm going to take Dillon to her parents'"

"Of course, no problem. But why don't you just take her with you?"

"I haven't got time to explain. I'll tell her you'll be here in half hour. Ok?"

"Sure."

"Ok see you later."

Cancelling the call, Derek looked down to Dillon, "Dillon, go get your coat and shoes on and I'll take you to nanny and grandad's. I'm just going upstairs to change. I'll be down in a couple of minutes."

Derek ran upstairs to their bedroom where Emily was sat at the dressing table finishing off her make up.

"Em, Garcia's going to come and pick you up on the way to Rossi's. I'll take Dillon to your parent's."

Emily stopped what she was doing and turned to look over at him. She could see he was in a bit of a fluster as he changed from his T-shirt into a black shirt.

"If you wait a couple of minutes I'll come with you."

"No we're running late."

Emily was a little taken aback by his bluntness.

"No we're not. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I just…"

He looked over to her and stopped mid sentence. Her big brown eyes staring back at him with worry and her soft brown hair falling around her face perfectly.

He walked over to her doing up the last button on his shirt. Leaning down, he kissed her on the lips gently… "You look beautiful."

"Thanks, but you didn't answer the question."

He let his hand fall over the back of her head and ran his fingers down her hair, "Em, just trust me. Everything's fine. I'll see you at Rossi's place ok?"

She didn't respond, just nodded her head slightly. He knew she wasn't happy with that explanation, but he didn't have time to come up with anything better.

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After dropping Dillon off at Emily's parent's place, Derek found himself stood outside Stephanie's house, knocking the front door. It took only a few seconds for the door to open and on seeing him a smile crept across her face.

"Derek. What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Sure. Come in."

She stepped aside allowing him room to enter and then shut the door behind him.

"So what's up Derek?"

"You. That's what's up. You have to stop contacting Emily."

The smile disappeared, "Why? What did _she_ tell you?"

"She didn't tell me anything. I saw your number on her phone."

Stephanie paused and looked down to the floor. When she looked back up, there were tears in her eyes."

"Derek, you have no idea of the things she's said to me."

"What are you talking about?"

"She's turned you against me and everyone else. She said she would."

Derek took a deep breath and rolled his eyes slightly, the realisation dawning on him of just how manipulating she could be.

"Look. The best thing to do is to draw a line here Steph. I'm sorry I hurt you, I never meant to, but I think it's best if we have no contact anymore."

She didn't respond and just let the tears stream down her face.

Derek shook his head, "I'm sorry Steph, but I'm going to go now."

He stepped past her and started to make his way towards the door,

"It won't last Derek."

Stopping suddenly, he turned to face her once again.

"What?"

"Just because you have a kid together doesn't mean you should be together."

"You know what? You're absolutely right. I'm with her because I love her. Not because of Dillon."

"But she used him to worm her way back into your life."

"That's enough Steph. I'm out of here."

"She can't love you like I do."

He felt his blood pressure rising. He leant forward a little and pointed at her, "You have no idea how she feels about me."

"I know you Derek and I know you're not this family guy you're making yourself out to be."

"Well you obviously don't know me at all. I'm happy. Happier than I've ever been."

"May be now, but you'll get bored. Look how easily you dropped me."

"That's different."

"Why?"

"Because… Because I always loved her. Before I even met you."

"So we never stood a chance?"

"Steph, I don't know. I'm not saying that. All I know is how I feel now."

"And how's that?"

"I don't know how many times I'm supposed to say this to convince you, but I love her."

"You're a player Derek. Your head will be turned. All it will take is a pretty face and a little come on…"

She moved in a little closer until she was inches away from him. She lifted her hand to touch his face, but before she made it he grabbed her wrist.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Have you not listened to a word I just said?"

"You don't want this….? Just for old time's sake. One last time?"

He put his hand to his forehead, rubbed it hard then closed his eyes contemplating his next move.

"Ok, I didn't want to have to do this, but if this is what it takes for you to leave us alone, then sobeit."

Stephanie watched as he reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a small box. He opened it up and revealed the platinum ring with the diamond rock attached.

He watched as Stephanie's eyes widened and she moved a little closer. As she did, he snapped the box shut and returned it to his pocket.

"There Steph. Are you happy now? We're a family and I intend on it staying that way forever. You and me, we're through. I'm sorry it had to end this way, but you've left me with no choice."

Derek walked to the front door and opened it. As he walked outside, he glanced back to Steph who was stood rooted to the spot looking at him.

"Take care Steph." He said in a much calmer voice feeling he had laid this one to bed. He didn't wait for a response, just made his way back to his car and then on to Rossi's place.

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Derek made it to Rossi's just in time for the food to be eaten. Emily shot him an unimpressed glance as he sat down next to her, but he ignored it and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. He then looked over to Garcia who also gave him a disapproving glare no doubt due to Emily sharing the events of earlier.

Within a few minutes, all seemed to have been forgotten. Everyone enjoyed the food and wine and eventually made it to the sitting room.

Walking back from the kitchen with Reid and some drinks, Emily saw Derek sat on the sofa alone, looking a little agitated.

"Derek, are you going to tell me what's up?" she said handing him the whisky on the rocks she had gotten for him.

He looked up at her but now she saw fear in his eyes. Sitting down next to him, she placed one hand on his knee.

"Derek, you're scaring me."

He turned to face her and placed one hand on hers, "Em, honestly, there's nothing to worry about. Give me a few minutes and I'll explain."

Now she looked confused, "A few minutes? Why don't you tell me now?"

She watched as he downed his drink in one go, "I just need another one of these. Hang on."

He jumped up and made off quickly into the kitchen leaving Emily looking bewildered.

Having watched everything, Garcia and JJ moved across the room to stand in front of their friend.

"Is everything alright?" JJ asked.

"I don't know. He's acting really weird."

"Did you ask him what's up?" Garcia whispered.

"Yeah. He says nothing's wrong, but I know there is."

"Do you want me to have a word with him?"

"No no, it'll be fine….. Oh he's coming back."

"Ladies, can I get Emily to myself for a second please." He said looking at the two blondes.

Emily frowned at him as they walked away, "Derek, what the hell was that all….."

"Shhhh" He whispered as he put one finger to his lips.

He took a deep breath and then turned to the rest of their friends, "Guys, can you just listen in for a second."

There was a sudden silence in the room which almost deafened Derek. He felt red hot and had never looked so nervous to any of them. He turned to look down at Emily who was still sat down in front of him looking at him in disbelief.

She watched his chest rising and falling heavier than before. He gave her a small smile and then held his hand out to her which she took instinctively.

As he got down on one knee two squeals could be heard… One from JJ and one from Garcia. The rest of the room was in stunned silence.

Her eyes widened as he reached into his trouser pocket to pull out the box.

"What are you doing?" She whispered under her breath, realising immediately that it was the most stupid question she had asked in a long time. He didn't answer her though, just smiled even wider.

She wasn't sure whether it was her hand shaking or his, but she'd never held on to someone's hand so tightly as she was now.

He had been planning to remove his hand from hers to open the box, but knew he didn't want to release her grip. Somehow he managed to flip open the box with one hand and hold it in front of her.

He took a big gulp and let out a nervous breath.

"Emily Prentiss, this isn't how I planned this in my head, but I don't want to wait any longer…."

He gripped her hand a little bit tighter and smiled nervously.

"….Since coming back into my life you have made me the happiest man alive. I never thought I could feel this way about anyone, but you have truly turned my world upside down in the best way I could imagine. I just want to feel this way forever. I just want you forever. So… Will you marry me?"

He looked deeper into her eyes, which had never looked so big. Her pupils had dilated making them even darker.

He didn't notice, but his breaths had got more rapid as the time went by. It felt like an eternity, but it was just a few seconds before he heard a breathless, 'yes' escape Emily's mouth.

The whole room thought they'd heard it, but they weren't sure.

"Emily?" He said deeply.

"Yes Derek. Yes I will."

She didn't smile though. Still in complete shock. It wasn't until she felt his lips on hers and smelt his musk that she snapped out of it. She didn't even notice him slip the ring onto her finger.

He felt her smile as he kissed her and then pulled away as he heard the room erupt into applause and squeals.

Before they knew it, Garcia and JJ were either side of Emily fussing over her and examining the ring. Derek stood up not taking his eyes off Emily's face as he did. She looked so happy.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Rossi, Hotch and Reid all stood around him. Rossi held out his hand, "Congratulations Derek."

Morgan shook his hand, "Hey, I hope you don't mind me kind of taking over your birthday."

"Mind? I'm honoured. You couldn't have made it more special. Come here." The older man pulled Morgan in for a hug. Morgan could feel that hug was full of warmth and blessing. As he squeezed a little tighter though, Morgan felt it was Rossi's way of saying, 'look after her' which is exactly what he intended to do.

After the hysteria had died down, Derek motioned to Emily across the room to follow him outside into the backyard. When she got out he was leant up against the wooden rail at the edge of the decking.

"Come here you." He said holding his arms out to her.

He enveloped her in his big arms and she let her head rest against his shoulder.

"I can't believe you just did that Derek." She said softly.

"Do you mind that I did it in front of everyone?"

"No. I'm just surprised you did.….. So we're really gonna do this then?"

"So long as you don't change your mind."

Emily laughed, "Well I guess you'll have to be on your best behaviour then."

"Best behaviour? Does that include doing this?"

He slipped his hands under her shirt to feel her warm skin and leant down to kiss her neck softly.

"Derek, you do remember there's a room full of people in there?"

"Oh damn." He let his hands rest on her waist and removed his face from her neck to look at her and smile.

"So what _did_ you have planned in your head then?"

"A romantic weekend getaway."

"So why'd you change your mind?"

He paused, not wanting to lie, but also not wanting to ruin their night.

"The moment was just right Em." And he kissed her forehead.

A voice from across the decking caused them to break apart.

"Oh sorry, I'll leave you two to it."

"No Pen. It's fine. I'm going in to get a drink… I need one." Emily said leaving the two friends together.

Garcia jumped up and threw her arms around Morgan, "I'm so proud of you Derek."

"You have no idea how nervous I was." He said as Garcia pulled out of the hug and stood next to him.

"I think we all did. But you did a great job. What you said was beautiful."  
"Good job she said yes."

Garcia chuckled, "Yeah….. So what happened to taking her away?"

"I kind of had no choice."

"Why?"

"I had a run in with Steph today."

"What!"

"Yeah, she called Emily on her mobile, but I saw it first. Emily doesn't know. I had enough Pen. I snapped and went round to see her."

"You're kidding? What happened?"

"She's crazy. She said some stuff about Em and wouldn't let it go. I was so mad, so I showed her the ring. I told her I was going to ask Emily to marry me just to shut her up. I couldn't risk waiting another week just in case she contacted Emily again."

Garcia raised her eyebrows, "How'd she take that?"

"She didn't really say anything. Hopefully that'll be the end of it."

"You think?"

Derek shook his head, "I dunno. If that doesn't show her, what possibly could?"


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry for how long it has taken me to update this story… I lost my muse somewhat and struggled with how to move this on. Anyway, I hope I got my muse back and you enjoy this chapter. It's pretty angsty with a tiny bit of fluff…. Thanks for all your support and reviews. It means a lot (and also makes me feel guilty for not updating sooner)**

Emily rolled over and let her arm snake around Derek's naked waist. She pressed her chest up against his strong back and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck placing a feather light kiss. She felt his big hand envelope hers and rub the rock that he had placed there the night before.

They had no words for each other right now. They could say everything they needed with a touch. He began to stir as he felt her warm kisses on his neck. Slowly turning his body round to face her, he couldn't stop the huge grin creep across his face as his eyes met hers and he could see exactly what she had in mind for him. His hands stroked her skin from the nape of her neck right down to the tops of her thighs as he kissed her full lips and they went on to pick up from where they had left off the night before.

The first words they spoke that morning was sometime later, both still slightly breathless, both staring up at their bedroom ceiling.

"So, good morning the future Mrs Morgan." Derek whispered, his voice still slightly gruff.

"Mrs Morgan eh?" Emily giggled.

He turned to look at her with a half frown, half smirk, "Yeah, Mrs Morgan. You're not one of these who wants to keep their name are you?"

She snapped her head round to look at him, "One of these?"

He smiled as he watched her lips curl at each side. "Ok ok, I'll be Mrs Morgan." She sais sarcastically as if doing him a favour.

Returning his gaze back to the ceiling he muttered, "Good" under his breath.

"Derek?"

"Yeah."

"Last night you said you hadn't planned to propose that way. How did you plan it?"

Derek laughed….. "I was going to whisk you away for a dirty weekend as Penelope put it."

"She knew?"

"Yeah, only her though. Lord knows how she kept it from JJ or you for that matter."

"I'll kill her when I see her." Emily giggled.

After a few seconds of silence allowing Emily to think, she turned and propped herself up on one elbow so she could see him properly.

"So how come we didn't get this dirty weekend then?"

"You want one?" He said raising his eyebrows at her.

"Well, yeah, but you're avoiding the question. What changed?"

Derek avoided her stare taking a deep breath and looking back up to the ceiling. He knew she knew something was up and he didn't want to lie to her.

"Derek? You're scaring me. What's wrong?"

Placing one of his hands behind her head, stroking her hair, he looked deep into her eyes, "Hey, nothing's wrong. I promise you. Things couldn't be more perfect right now."

"So what's going on then?"

"Ok. Yesterday when you were getting ready…" His sentence was interrupted by the all too familiar ring tone of his phone.

"Oh gees you're kidding me." Derek huffed as he rolled over to see Garcia's name flashing on the screen.

"Hey Penelope. Please tell me you're ringing to say congratulations for the hundredth time."

"_Sorry Derek. Time to put your Unit Chief head on. Briefing in half hour."_

"Half hour? I'm still in bed!"

"_Well I'm afraid you're going to have to put your bride to be down and get your butt in here."_

"Sir."

"_Derek, the day I call you sir will be the day you put on a pink tutu and dance through the corridors of Quantico."_

"What is that a fantasy of yours or something?" He chuckled.

Derek saw Emily roll her eyes at their banter with a smirk… "Ok, I'll be in in half an hour."

As he put the phone down he looked at Emily with pouted lips, "I'm sorry baby, I've got to go in… But I promise everything's good. I'll explain later ok?"

"I guess it will have to be." She said as she lay back and let her head sink into the pillow watching him make his way into the bathroom.

"So what are you going to do for the rest of the day then?" He shouted from the bathroom.

"I guess I'll just go pick Dillon up a bit earlier than planned and make us some dinner."

A short while later he emerged wearing just a towel round his waist, the water glistening on his skin. She watched as he got changed and he eventually glanced back at her, meeting her stare.

"What?" He said with a smirk.

"Nothing." She smiled back.

As he pulled his shirt over his head, he made his way to the bed to sit beside her. Tucking a piece of wayward hair behind her ear, he gazed at her and whispered, "You happy?"

She smiled and nodded, pushing herself up so her lips could reach his, letting the sheet fall around her tiny waist.

"Emily, you are making this real hard for me to leave." He breathed allowing his hands to roam around her naked back as she deepened the kiss.

Reluctantly he pulled away from her, leaving one hand resting on her waist. It took all the strength he had not to look down. If he did, he'd definitely not make it in to work.

"Ok, I really have to go, but we'll talk later. Everything is good I promise." He gave her one last quick peck on the lips, "I love you."

"I love you too." She said almost pleadingly to his back as he walked out of the room.

She didn't want him to leave. She wasn't sure why. She was happy. He was happy. Things couldn't be more perfect she thought, but it didn't manage to subdue this niggling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

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"Morning lover." Garcia said far too chirpy.

Derek looked at her with the look of a child who had had their favourite toy taken away, "How can you be so cheery? It's a Sunday morning and we're back here again."

"Ooh someone got out of the wrong side of bed this morning." Farrell piped up.

Derek looked over to the Agent, "Farrell, I wish I was still in that bed. Someway to celebrate." He said shaking his head.

"Celebrate what?" Jackson asked looking up from the case file.

Derek looked over to Garcia who was stood grinning and that hadn't been lost on the two other Agents. He nodded over to her giving her permission to spill the beans.

"Our Unit Chief here is getting married." Garcia practically squealed.

Farrell immediately got up and walked over to Derek holding out his hand, Derek taking it to shake, "Well congratulations. You're a lucky guy. Does Emily know what she's letting herself in for?" He said with a chuckle.

"Yeah very funny Farrell. Right come on let's get to work so I can get home and finish celebrating."

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Emily stood at the kitchen sink looking out into the back garden. Even after all this time she still enjoyed watching Dillon play. When they were in Canada it would break her heart sometimes knowing how much he was missing out on not having a family around him. At the time it didn't bother Dillon though. He knew no different and he had always been a happy child, but now she saw a change in him. A good change. He was learning so many things from the different people in his life, but of course mainly from Derek.

He'd always had some of Derek's mannerisms… The way he frowned when he couldn't figure something out. Giving her a toothy grin when he knew he was being cheeky. May be she imagined it back then, but not now. Now Dillon was a carbon copy of his father. He watched him in awe, mimicking everything… The way he sat, the way he ate, the way he drank and so on.

She left the dishes and went across to the fridge to fetch what she needed to make the dinner. As she returned to the sink she dropped everything she was holding upon seeing the scene in her back garden.

Running out of the door she shouted to the woman in front of her, "Stephanie, what the hell are you doing here?"

Stephanie stood about twenty foot in front of Emily, with Dillon leant up against her legs. The boy wasn't there out of choice. She had both her hands on his chest pulling him into her.

"Let him go Stephanie."

"Don't come a step closer!" The other woman said stopping Emily dead in her tracks. Emily just spotted the small knife peeping out from behind one of her hands.

Emily's stomach churned and it took everything she had to stop herself being sick right there. Her whole body began to shake and her heart beat was thumping so hard in her head that she could barely think.

Reaching her trembling hands in front of her as if to surrender, Emily managed to force the words out, "Steph, please I'm begging you, just let him go. We can talk. Just please let my baby go."

Stephanie shook her head slowly with a crazed smile, "No chance. "

"What do you want? Why do you need him?"

"I want to hurt you Emily. I want to take something from you like you took something from me."

"But he's a child. He hasn't done anything wrong."

"Neither did I."

Emily looked down to Dillon. She could see the tears rolling down his cheeks. He was scared to death, but he somehow knew to stay quite. Not to aggravate the woman keeping him from his mommy.

Emily forced a smile, "It'll be ok baby. Don't worry ok. This will all be over soon."

Dillon just stared at her, silently pleading for her to go and get him.

Emily's breaths were increasing and she was finding it more and more difficult to think straight.

She took a deep breath, "Steph, I understand that you are hurt and I am sorry and we can talk that over if you want, but this is down to me not Dillon. Please just let him go."

"Yeah, too right it's down to you. Me and Derek were fine before you came along. Why did you have to ruin it?"

"You're right. If you just let Dillon go we'll leave and you can make things work with Derek again. I'll do anything Steph. Please."

Emily obviously didn't mean a word of it, but banked on the woman being delusional enough to swallow it.

Stephanie laughed, "Me and Derek? I doubt it seeing as you're getting married."

Emily looked confused, "How do you know that?"

"Derek told me."

"He told you?"

She let that thought linger for all but a second, tossing it to one side to concentrate on what was important.

"Look, we're not married Steph. It doesn't have to happen. I can disappear again like I did before right?"

"No, I don't believe you."

Emily's mouth was dry and she could feel the sweat pouring out of her as she became more desperate. She couldn't look at Dillon's face as she knew it would break her.

"Ok, you want to hurt me? That's fine. Take me and let Dillon go."

"Anything I do to Dillon will hurt you more than anything I could do to you."

The woman was right. There was nothing Emily wouldn't suffer to make sure not one hair on his head was touched.

"That may be true Steph, but think about Derek. What will he think of you if you hurt his son? The best option is for you to take me. Come on, you must see that makes sense."

Emily was silently praying as she watched the other woman thinking. She didn't want to rush or panic her. She looked down to Dillon who still had his eyes locked on Emily. She managed a pathetic smile and wink, but she knew that wouldn't fool him.

Emily softened her voice even more, "Steph, come on. Derek would never forgive you for taking his son. You wouldn't want that right?"

Steph shook her head.

"Ok so let him go and take me."

"But you can just overpower me. You're an FBI Agent for god's sake."

Emily's foot was tapping on the ground, but she hadn't even noticed. _Think Emily. Think. _She silently sceamed to herself.

"Ok, so tie me up."

"You'll get out of that. I'm not stupid."

Emily knew what she had to suggest, even though she knew this could really be her demise but there was nothing she wouldn't do right now.

"I have handcuffs in the house. You could use them."

Stephanie looked at Emily, eyes squinting, trying to figure out where the catch was. But there could be no catch. Not whilst she had a knife to the child's throat. No one would be that stupid.

"Ok, very slowly walk back in the house and get them, I will follow you right behind. One move out of place Emily and my hand may just slip."

Emily looked back down to Dillon and nodded her head trying to be reassuring for what it was worth. She then slowly turned around and headed for the cabinet in the hallway where one of the many sets of cuffs in the house were kept. She never thought they would be for her.

As she walked she tried to play every scenario in her head, but there was no way she could do anything quick enough to stop Stephanie from hurting Dillon or far worse. She had got the better of her.

Reaching the cabinet she stopped and signalled to the other woman letting her know they were in there.

"OK, open it real slowly and pull them out."

Emily watched the hand with the knife twitching causing the panic to rise even further if that were possible. She pulled out the cuffs and waited further instruction.

"Right. Handcuff yourself behind your back."

It was awkward, but she managed to get them on.

"Now turn around."

Emily did as told and immediately felt the cuffs being tightened, digging into her wrists.

She felt a prod in her back, "Right let's go."

"Steph, can I please say goodbye to Dillon. He's going to be so scared. Please just that. I'm begging you."

There was silence for a few seconds.

"Ok, but be quick."

Emily took a deep breath and a big gulp to compose herself before turning around. When she finally found the strength, she felt a pain in the pit of her stomach as she saw Dillon's face. It was filled with fear and horror.

She took care kneeling down in front of him, the handcuffs impeding her balance.

"Baby come here."

Dillon immediately jumped into his mommy and threw his arms around her neck, finally allowing himself to sob.

"Dillon, it's ok. I'll be ok. I've just got to go out for a bit."

"No mommy. I don't want you to go." He cried into her neck, Emily feeling the moisture from his tears.

"Sweetie I have to."

"Then I want to come."

"No. Listen, I need you to be a big boy for mommy now ok? Remember what we told you to do if you were in trouble?" She whispered.

She felt him nod his head.

Pulling away from him, she looked into his eyes, "I love you baby. More than anything in this world."

"I love you too mommy." Dillon replied, struggling to speak between sobs.

"OK, we're going now. I'll see you real soon." She said getting up.

She looked into his eyes one final time before turning around. She felt Stephanie's hand push her arm signalling for her to go. As she walked away she just about heard Dillon's voice almost squeak, "Mommy" as she walked through the door, but she couldn't look back because he would see her breaking. He would see the tears streaming down and the fear in her face.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Derek stood in the local Police Department field office with Detective Graham. They were in the process of going through the backgrounds of each of the two murdered couples when Derek's phone rang.

He looked down at the screen, confused at the name he saw.

"Mrs Bentley?"

"_Yes Derek."_

"What's up?"

"_Oh Derek I don't know. You must come quick. I have Dillon with me and he's hysterical. I don't know what's wrong with him."_

"Is Emily not there?"

"_No, he says she's gone. I can't get much more out of him. Please come quick Derek."_

"I'm leaving now. I'll be there in fifteen minutes and I'll get the police to you."

He cut off his phone and looked up to see all the Agents looking at him.

"Derek what's wrong?" Garcia asked, horrified at the look on his face.

"I don't know. I've got to go home. Farrel. Jackson. I'm leaving this with you. Garcia get the local Police to my house now. I'll call when I know more."

Before anyone could say anything further, Derek was gone.


	20. Chapter 20

**Ok here is a quick little chapter to keep you going. ….Once again, thanks for all the reviews… sorry I couldn't reply to all individually this time. It's been a bit hectic. Thanks to CriminalMindsWhore, Sara Nublas and CriminalMindsFa for all the help. I hope you all like this chapter… It may not be what you're expecting ;) **

Derek pulled up in the SUV and parked behind the squad car already outside his house. He ran to his neighbour's house, bursting through the front doors without knocking.  
"Oh Derek, I'm so glad you're here."  
"Where's Dillon?"  
"He's in the lounge… here."  
Mrs Bentley pointed towards the archway that led into the sitting area where he could see two local cops. Derek then spotted the boy. He looked so tiny sat in the middle of the huge sofa. It took just a few seconds for Dillon to sense Derek's presence.  
"Daddy!"  
Dillon shot up and ran to his father, Derek crouching down, taking him into his arms.  
"Hey Dillon." Derek said cradling the shaking boy's head in his big hand. "Shhh.. It's ok…. I'm right here."  
Feeling Dillon's vibrations calm slightly, Derek gently pulled him out of the hug and held him by both arms in front of him. All Derek could see were Emily's big brown eyes staring back at him, bloodshot and puffy.  
"Sir?"  
Derek looked up to the 6'5" plus cop bearing down on him.  
"Sir, he wouldn't speak to us. May be you can get some more information out of him."  
Derek nodded and looked back to Dillon  
"It's gonna be ok baby. I just need you to tell me what happened. Where's mommy?"  
Derek's voice was low and calm, but inside his heart was racing. Seeing his son in such a state was breaking his heart and at the same time he was panicking more than he had ever before at what could have happened to Emily.  
Dillon slowly stopped crying but was still taking short sharp breaths, remnants from his sobs.

Derek lifted one hand to stroke his face, "Dillon, please…. Tell me what happened." He whispered.  
"Mommy's gone. She left me." As Dillon said those words, his face scrunched up and the tears came again.  
Derek looked up to the cop, "Has anyone been to my house?"  
"Not yet, we got here literally a minute or so before you and we were trying to speak to your son first."  
Looking back to the boy, "Dillon, is mommy still at the house?"  
He shook his head.  
"Ok sir, we'll get over there right away to make sure."  
Derek watched as the two officers hastily exited out of the front door but was quickly drawn back to the sobs of his son.  
"Dillon, please tell me what happened. It's really important you tell me so that I can find mommy."  
Dillon paused then opened his tiny mouth. The words were broken and strained.  
"She went with that lady."  
Derek closed his eyes knowing immediately who 'that lady' was, but he needed to hear it.

"What lady Dillon?"  
"That lady who gave me a present before."  
"What happened?"  
"The lady wouldn't let me go and she said she wanted to hurt mommy."  
"So how did you get away from her?"  
"She let me go when mommy went with her."  
Derek was confused. He knew Emily could handle herself. Why would she just go with her?  
"Dillon, did the lady have anything with her?"  
The boy shrugged, a little confused with the question.  
"Did she have anything in her hand?"  
He nodded.  
"What was it Dillon? Can you remember?"  
He paused looking into his father's eyes, pleading. Derek wasn't sure what for, but he just needed a little more information. He nodded to his son reassuringly.  
"She had a knife I think."  
Derek felt his heart skip a beat, but before he could think any further the familiar sound of cops' boots traipsing in behind him forced him to turn around. He stood up and pulled Dillon against his legs, the boy immediately wrapping his arms around them, holding on for dear life.  
"We checked the whole property. There's no sign of a struggle or your wife. The front door was left wide open. I think you should come take a look in case we've missed anything."  
Not bothering to correct the officer's mistake just yet, Derek looked from the cop back to his son. "OK…. Dillon, you stay with Mrs Bentley and I'll be back in a minute."  
"No daddy!" He felt the boy's arms squeeze his legs tighter.  
Realising straight away Dillon would feel abandoned again, he bent down and picked him up, "Ok, you come with me."  
Walking over to his house he felt that sinking feeling. The same sinking feeling he had four years ago when he watched Emily being taken away from him by Clyde Easter. But this time was worse, this time he had the realisation that it could be forever. Back then it took months for him to accept that he may never see her again.  
As he walked through the front door he immediately spotted the cabinet door open in the hallway. Rushing over, he looked inside…  
"The handcuffs…." He said looking over to the older officer.  
"Handcuffs?" The officer said perplexed.  
"Yes…. Oh, I didn't tell you…. I'm an FBI Agent."  
That raised both officers' attention.  
"FBI? We didn't realise sir."  
"Why would you? Anyway, the cuffs are gone. Look I know who has her. It's my ex, Stephanie Burton. She lives at 37 Alexandra Place, Shaw district."

"What makes you think it's her?"

"Dillon said Emily went with a woman. My ex has been….. Well she's been causing Emily some problems recently. She didn't take our break up too well. Look, I really don't have time to go into this in depth, but something is really wrong. Please get someone round there straight away. I can explain further after."  
"Of course, we'll get a unit over there right away sir."  
"Get a couple, she's got a knife."  
"Yes sir."  
Derek knew it was futile though. They wouldn't be there. He needed help, but this wasn't his case.  
"Have any detectives been called in on this yet?"  
"Yeah Detective Simmons he's on his way."  
"Tell him not to bother. Tell him I'll meet him at the station."  
Although confused, the officer nodded and got onto his radio.  
Derek snatched his phone from his pocket and dialled Garcia.  
_"Derek what's happened?"_ He could hear the panic in her voice before he even started talking.  
"Stephanie's taken Emily."  
_"What? What about Dillon?"_  
"Here's here with me. He's upset, but he's unharmed."  
_"Oh thank god, but Emily?"_  
"I don't know. She's gone with her. Steph had a knife."  
_"A knife?"_  
"Yeah, listen, I'm going to the local station to meet the Detective. Meet me there. I need you to take care of Dillon."  
_"Of course. Do you want me to bring Farrel and Jackson?"__  
_"No. Leave them working the case, but ask JJ to come. You both spoke to Emily about Steph. You may be able to help."  
_"Ok, consider it done. See you there."__  
_  
As much as Derek wanted to run every red light to get to the station, he had precious cargo in the back seat. He looked in the rear view mirror to see a bleary eyed Dillon staring out of the window. Derek figured he'd run out of tears.

Looking at the boy like that scared him to death…. Would he be able to get Dillon through this mentally unscarred? The realisation hit him that his son's wellbeing was down to him right now and him alone for the first time. He figured that this may just be a tiny snippet of how Emily must have felt for the last four years raising Dillon without him. He couldn't let that happen to the boy again. He couldn't lose Emily… not again.

Why didn't he realise what Stephanie was like? Were there signs? Why did he tell her he was going to ask Emily to marry him? Was this all his fault? He dealt with psychos every day. Analysed their every move, yet with Stephanie he missed it. But he had no reason to suspect this was part of her make up. He had known the woman for two years…. There was never a sign…. That he was sure of.

He rubbed his forehead and shook his head, trying to get those thoughts out of his mind. He had to get them to the station safe if they were going to be of any use to her.

"Where are we going?" Emily demanded of the brunette sat next to her in the car.  
Stephanie just continued to look forward, the stern look on her face not budging.  
Emily tried to calm herself, hoping there was some reasoning with this woman, "Steph, will you please talk to me." She said in a much softer tone.  
The woman's face shot round and Emily could see the fire in her eyes.  
"Shut up! Just shut up and let me think!" Stephanie screeched.  
Emily could hear the rage and desperation in the woman's voice. This was obviously not what she had planned and she was having to rethink.  
The sound of the engine revving harder as they went faster and faster was deafening Emily's ears. Antagonising Stephanie any further would probably lead to them both being killed so instead Emily tried to think of something else, something good… but all she could see was Dillon's face as she turned away from him in the hallway of their house and walked away. His face was broken, full of fear, just wanting his mommy to hold him and make everything better. But she couldn't. She had no doubt in her mind that Derek would be with him by now and he would be safe but she needed to be back with him too, with both of them. To not get back would feel like failing him….. just the way she felt four years ago….  
_  
__"Miss Carter, I just need you to breathe. Take a deep breath then exhale."__  
__Emily lay on the hospital bed in agony grasping hold of the nurse's hand.__  
__"Are you sure there is no-one I can contact for you Miss Carter?"__  
__"No, there's no-one." Emily gasped.__  
__The woman didn't know what to say, she just looked on with pity in her eyes at Emily whose hair was stuck to her face with sweat as she frantically breathed in and out.__  
__"How long's this gonna take?" Emily panted.__  
__The nurse gave a little smile which earned her a look of disdain from Emily.__  
__"I'm afraid babies don't stick to a schedule. He or she will come when they're ready."__  
__As the latest contraction subsided, Emily lay her head back against the pillow and closed her eyes in an attempt to catch a breath before the next came along.__  
__At that moment she was scared to death. At that moment she wondered if she was doing the right thing. Could she give this little person everything he or she needed and deserved? Could she do this on her own? But there was no turning back.__  
__As the next contraction started, she let out a small growl, trying to contain herself but it was enough to get the nurses attention.__  
__"I think you may nearly be ready…. Let me just go and get the doctor."__  
__"No… Please don't leave me." Emily was desperate.__  
__As snarly as Emily had been for the past few hours, Nurse Andrews kind of liked her. She had been pretty sweet when she first came to the hospital, elegant and gracious the nurse thought, but she was quite clearly scared. She wondered what this mysterious woman's story was that would lead to her being in labour all alone._

_"Miss Carter, I will just be thirty seconds. I've just got to step out of the room and call for someone… don't worry, I'll be back." The nurse placed a tender hand on Emily's shoulder.__  
__That touch, as brief as it was, was the first time she had felt any kind of affection from anyone since… well since nine months ago.__  
__Before Emily knew it, the doctor was in the room and the nurse back by her side, once again gripping her hand.__  
__"Ok Miss Carter…."__  
__Emily could hear the male voice, but not see him. Right now she didn't really care what he was looking at.__  
__"….I think your little one is ready to come and meet you."_

_Thirty minutes later plus a whole bunch of swear words and heavy breathing, Emily heard her baby for the first time. The screams were deafening, but it was the most wonderful sound she had ever heard.__  
__"It's a boy Miss Carter." Emily heard the soft voice of the nurse saying in her ear.__  
__A few seconds later a little warm bundle was placed in her arms, lain across her chest.__  
__"He's beautiful. Well done."__  
__Emily looked at the woman and could feel herself smiling from ear to ear. She couldn't remember the last time she had smiled like that. Probably never.__  
__"So have you got a name for the little fella?"__  
__"Yeah…. Dillon….. Dillon Joseph."__  
__"That's lovely….. Right, I'm going to leave you alone for a few minutes. Just press that buzzer if you need me."__  
__The nurse cautiously stepped out of the room waiting for Emily to protest, but it never came. When she gave a glance she saw Emily staring, transfixed on the new life in her arms and was sure, what ever this woman's story was, she would be absolutely fine.__  
__Emily gazed down at her son. She traced a finger along his forehead and all the way down to his tiny hand.__  
__She looked around to make sure they were alone and then proceeded to whisper…"Hey Dillon… It's your mommy here… I'm going to try to be the best mommy possible. I can't promise you I won't mess up every now and again and one day you'll be able to tell me when I do wrong, but whatever happens, I know I'm going to love you forever and….."_

_She stopped for a second as she felt the salt water in her eyes start to sting, but she didn't mind the tears falling. "…and I'm sorry your daddy isn't here. I wish he was because I really need him right now… But know that he loves you too and one day you'll get to meet him and you'll know what a wonderful man he is. I'm sorry I failed you baby, but I will spend every day trying to make this up to you.. I hope one day you will understand."_

_She placed a tender kiss on his forehead and wiped her tears away. She had never felt so alone….. This was easily the most scared she had ever been in her entire life…. But also the happiest._

__Emily's eyes snapped open as she felt the car come to a sudden stop. She looked around at the land surrounding them. She could see acres and acres of farm land. Land that hadn't been tended to for some time.  
"Where are we?" Emily asked.  
Stephanie looked at her with a blank stare and then hopped out of the car. She walked around and opened Emily's door.  
"Out." She ordered.  
Emily did as she said not wanting to aggravate this woman any further. She could see was way past any reasoning right now. She was almost in a trance. Not quite all there. Emily desperately needed to buy herself time. She needed to figure this woman out. More than likely her only way out of this was to talk her way out. She owed this to Dillon….. He had spent the first few years of his life with only one parent and now that he had both he was the happiest he had ever been. She could not take that away from him again. She could not fail him again.


	21. Chapter 21

**This is very much a transitional chapter that is necessary to move the story on… trying to dig into why Stephanie is the ways she is…. I hope you enjoy. And thanks once again to Sara Nublas and CriminalMindsWhore for all your help beta'ing for me.**

Dillon sat on a chair gripping tight onto the candy given to him by Detective Harry Simmons' partner, Carrie Palmer. The boy had calmed down somewhat now, taken in by the hustle and bustle of the local police station.

Derek stood with Simmons—the lead Detective on Emily's kidnapping—explaining everything he could remember of the past few months, continually glancing towards Dillon, unable to take his attention off him as if doing so would cause the boy to break down or disappear again.

"Derek, Harry, I've just heard from the officers who went to Stephanie Burton's house. No sign I'm afraid." Palmer informed them, with a look of sympathy towards Derek.

Simmons looked from Palmer back to Morgan, "Derek, is there anywhere else that springs to mind that they could have gone to?"

Derek frowned, frantically trying to get his mind to settle and think straight, "I…. I don't know… Look I know this isn't an FBI case, but the technical analyst from my team is on the way here to help give some background to Stephanie and look after Dillon. She is the best in the business. Would you mind if we used her to do the background work on Stephanie? She will have it done in no time."

Palmer looked towards Simmons and shrugged her shoulders, "Your call Harry."

Simmons paused to think. This would be unusual but he knew it would save time. Their resources were already stretched.

"OK, but Derek, I have to maintain jurisdiction on this. You do understand that? You're way too personally involved to make any calls on this."

Derek nodded, "I know, I know…"

Simmons couldn't help but feel he was going to have a battle on his hands here. Not that he could blame Derek… this was his family. He'd do exactly the same.

As if on cue Garcia and JJ made their way into the office.

"Detective Simmons, Palmer, these are Agents Garcia and Jareau."

Simmons looked toward Derek, eyebrows raised, "Exactly how many of your team are coming?"

"They are both witnesses….. They had dealings with Stephanie and Emily over the past few weeks."

"Ok, well Agent Garcia, we have some workspace over here for you if you'd like to get set up. Agent Jareau, can you tell Detective Palmer everything you recall please."

"Of course." JJ nodded as she shot Derek a concerned look. As she went to walk away she put a gentle hand on his arm, "We'll find her, don't worry Derek." She whispered.

Derek tried to force a smile, but it didn't come. Instead he looked back over to Dillon who was no longer there. He watched as Detective Simmons pulled the chair over to where Dillon was now, clinging on to Garcia as she tried to work around him.

Derek made his way over and prised the boy away, "Hey kiddo listen, Aunty Penelope has got to do some work to help find mommy."

"But I want to stay with her." He said, the tears starting to form once again.

Garcia looked up to him, "Dillon, if you want you can sit on the chair next to me ok?"

Dillon nodded, wriggled off Derek and jumped onto the chair as Garcia rustled in her bag. Derek watched and a small smile appeared when he saw the two Star Wars action figures she produced. They were the ones Reid had given her when he left that she kept on her desk with all the other mementos she had collected over the years.

Whilst Dillon was distracted by the figures Simmons and Derek hovered over Garcia.

"Agent Garcia, can you find out if she's linked to any other property locally or has family."

Garcia tried not to look too sarcastically at the Detective trying to tell her what she could do blindfolded.

"Detective, no offence but I work better without too many people fussing. I will have everything you need in a few minutes… please?" She said apologetically.

The Detective took a step back and Derek followed suit. Both men turned around upon hearing Palmer behind them walking in with JJ.

"Agent Jareau has given me all the background to what has been happening over the past few weeks. I'm just going to brief the officers at Miss Burton's property further."

"I'll come with you. They need to be on the look out for any paperwork relating to any other properties." Simmons said, following on behind.

JJ watched Derek's face as he stared at the Detectives walking away. He looked lost.

"Hey Derek. They're doing everything they can."

"I know, but it's not enough is it? We have no idea where to start looking. What do you think JJ? What do you think she's capable of?"

"Well from what Emily told me and when I met her the last time, she definitely didn't seem stable, but no-one could have imagined she'd do anything like this."  
"Why didn't Emily tell me everything?"

"Because she didn't know if you'd believe her. You didn't have a bad word to say about Stephanie….. No-one did."

"But I would have believed her—"

"Derek, JJ. Come here!" Garcia yelped.

They both quickly moved over to stand behind Garcia and stared at the screen, "Ok, so Stephanie Burton was born and raised in Roxboro, North Carolina. She was an only child and her parents were Cathy and Maxwell Burton. I found child services records on her."

"Child services? What for?" Derek asked, JJ seeing the look of confusion on his face.

"When she was fourteen years old her parents split and she went off the rails. Looks like her mom hit the drink and didn't take very good care of her. Stephanie ran away several times and was eventually put into care as her mother couldn't take care of her. Father wasn't interested as he felt she brought shame on him."

"Does it give any more information than that?" JJ asked hopeful.

Garcia clicked a few buttons and another screen popped up causing all three agents' eyes to widen.

JJ looked to Derek, "Did you know she'd been arrested?"

He shook his head but was lost for words.

"Not once, there's a few records here. Starting with some vandalism and then escalating to assault." Garcia read in horror.

"Are these all from North Carolina, Garcia?" Derek breathed.

"Yes. Looking at these records, the same detective dealt with several of the later cases. May be we should talk to him."

"Yes, what's his name?" Derek was quick to ask.

"Detective Johnson… I'll just write the number down for you."

JJ touched Derek's arm, "You know we can't ring, we have to give this to Simmons."

"I know." He whispered, desperate to take hold of this investigation.

A few minutes later JJ, Derek and the two Detectives were stood round a desk with the phone on speaker. Simmons was doing all the talking and he had managed to track down Detective Adam Johnson.

"Can you tell us what you remember of Stephanie Burton?"

"Yeah, it's a long story, a pretty sad one really. Her folks split up due to her father having an affair….." That caused the first concerned glance between JJ and Derek."Mother started drinking heavily and was very bitter towards her ex husband. She completely blamed the other woman, a lady by the name of Hannah Dickson. She poisoned Stephanie's mind against her. Stephanie felt neglected so in order to get her mother's attention and approval she started targeting Miss Dickson ranging from vandalising her property to eventually assaulting her pretty bad. No charges were brought as the father didn't want his dirty laundry airing in public. He paid Stephanie's mom off. Over the years, Stephanie managed to keep out of trouble up until a boyfriend did the dirty on her. Again she stalked the girl he cheated with but she wasn't so lucky."

"What do you mean?" Derek said before anyone else could get a word in.

"She was found drowned in her own bathtub. Stephanie was arrested, but we couldn't pin it on her; no forensics and she wouldn't talk to us in interview. She can just switch off and act like you're not even there and the next minute be all sweetness. She is seriously screwed up. A real Jekyll and Hyde."

The two Detectives and JJ looked at Derek, all three questioning him with their eyes as to why he didn't know any of this.

Ignoring their stares Derek looked back down to the phone, "What else can you tell us Detective?"

"Well I was really concerned about her so I monitored her for a while but she went quiet eventually. She got a job and managed to straighten herself out. The last I heard of her she moved from North Carolina to Virginia with a boyfriend. I don't know what happened after that."

"Do you know the boyfriend's name?" Palmer asked.

"Off the top of my head no. But I can find out. I made a note of it somewhere when I was monitoring her. If you give me a few minutes I'll call you back."

"Ok thank you Detective." Simmons finished off.

Emily sat on the sofa in a dated and worn out sitting room of an old farm house. She could smell the damp and there was still dust circulating the air from the door being opened when they entered, but someone had definitely been living here recently. There was freshly burnt wood on the fire and an unfinished coffee cup on the side table.

Emily tried to distract herself from Stephanie—who was frantically pacing up and down the room—by cataloguing everything surrounding her that could possibly help. There were plenty of potential weapons, particularly the fire poker by the hearth. She could see an old phone in the hallway, but getting there would require overpowering Stephanie, who Emily did not forget still had the knife on her person somewhere. This was also somewhat hindered by not having the use of her hands that were rendered useless by the steel shackles around her wrists. The phone was her life line but the only hope she had right now were her words…. Words that would stall Stephanie long enough for Emily to figure out a way to that phone and for Derek to find her.

"Stephanie?" She started off gently.

But no response came. Emily could see her tapping her fingers together as she paced up and down.

"Stephanie….. Can I have a drink of water?"

This wasn't about wanting water. This was about trying to bring Stephanie back to a sense of normality. Trying to bring her from within herself.

"Will you shut up. I'm trying to think!"

Stephanie still wouldn't look at Emily as if looking would distract her thoughts. This is exactly what Emily needed to get her to do.

"Stephanie, sit down please, we can talk."

Emily jumped out of her skin as the woman hurled towards her and pushed her backwards with one hand on each of her arms. Their faces were an inch apart.

"You want to talk?" Stephanie in a whiny sarcastic tone.

"Yes." Emily said somehow staying calm.

"You wouldn't give me the time of day before."

"I know and I'm sorry, but now I can see why you wanted to talk. I didn't realise what you and Derek had. It was obviously special."

Lying to Stephanie wasn't hard, but hearing herself say those words still stung Emily a little, knowing that she had spent two years with Derek.

"Yeah and you took that away."

"You want him back?"

This caused Stephanie to pull back from Emily slightly, but her stare didn't falter. It was a mix of question and confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, would you take him back? After everything that's happened?"

Stephanie's face changed, as if Emily had just spoken in another language. She took a step back and then moved to the armchair next to the sofa, slowly sitting down.

Emily watched her as she looked deep in thought. Whatever she was thinking, Emily knew she had struck a nerve.

JJ came rushing into the office where Derek was sat waiting for the two Detectives to return.

"Derek, I've been doing some more digging with Garcia. Get this, the boyfriend she left North Carolina with was a Sean Bennett. Bennett was found dead along with a Clarissa Stark. Both shot. I got hold of the Detective. Again they suspected Stephanie but couldn't prove anything."

"Jesus JJ. How did I not see this? She seemed so… so normal when I met her. Did you see this? Did anyone?"

"No Derek, I mean Penelope knew her more than me and she only ever had good things to say about her before Emily came back. You obviously grounded her Derek."

He nodded in realisation, "Yeah and when I left her she went right back to that person…That was her stressor… I was her stressor."

As the realisation hit Derek as to what had unfolded these past few months, he lifted his hands to his face, covering his eyes…"I can't lose her JJ… Please. What are we going to do? What about Dillon?"

His voice trailed off as it broke. JJ had never seen Derek like this. No matter how grave the situation he had always maintained a strong and composed appearance on the exterior. She had never seen him break.

"Derek, there is something we could do."

"What?"

"She's suspected of crimes in three different states. I can make it a federal case."

"But there's no way they'll let me run it."

"No I wasn't thinking of you."

Derek frowned silently asking JJ to explain.

"We could ask Hotch to head it….. Look Derek, you want the best on this right? The best is our old team. Let's get Reid and Hotch in on this and I have no doubt Rossi will come back to help."

"You think they'd be able to come?"

"Derek, they will all drop everything for Emily. You want me to call them?"

"Yeah." He whispered, trying to mask the quiver in his voice.

As JJ rushed out of the room, Derek felt a slight relief knowing who would be working on this, but it didn't relieve the sinking feeling….. the feeling that he really could lose her for good this time.

"Stephanie?" Emily whispered after they had sat in silence for what felt like hours.

Stephanie was staring at the floor, her breaths were slow, but Emily could see her chest rise and fall deeply.

Without moving, Stephanie began, her eyes still fixed on the floor. Her voice was softer, but monotone, "Why do they do it?"

"Do what?"

"Men…. Why do they cheat?"

Emily took a second to think. She wasn't sure where this conversation was going or how to handle it, so she would say as little as possible.

"I don't know."

"My mom said that men wouldn't be able to cheat if there wasn't a woman to cheat with. She's right isn't she?"

She shot Emily a glance, but it was too quick for Emily to gauge her demeanour.

"I guess that's true, but it all comes down to free will. No-one is forced to cheat."

"My mom says men are weak. She says women know how to push their buttons to get what they want."

Emily needed to know more about Stephanie to get out of this one. She needed to deflect the conversation somewhat to buy more time.

"Where's your mom now?"

Stephanie shrugged, "Don't know and don't care. I haven't spoken to her in years. She never cared about me."

"So if you don't care about her, why do you care so much about what she thinks?"

Stephanie's eyes shot towards Emily, suspiciously. Not allowing her time to think, Emily continued, "So when did your father leave?"

Stephanie's frown remained for a few seconds and then slowly subsided.

"How did you know?"

"Just a good guess I suppose."  
Of course it was in no way a guess. It didn't take much of a profiler to figure out her bitterness stemmed from her childhood and that her mother was obviously the victim of adultery.

"I was fourteen. He left to go and live with this woman."

"And your mom blamed her?"

Stephanie's eyes narrowed, trying to figure the other woman out, "Of course she blamed her. It was her fault." The venom arriving in her voice did not escape Emily's notice.

"What about your dad?" Emily said trying to calm things again.

"I told you. Men are weak. It was her fault!" Stephanie's voice was raised and Emily could see the rage start to reappear. Her foot was tapping frantically on the floor and her hand was hovering over her trouser pocket and that's when Emily saw the shimmer of the metal of the knife.

Emily struggled to calm her own breaths. Fighting against someone with a knife with no hands was practical impossibility.

"Stephanie, I'm not saying it wasn't. I'm just asking about your father. What did he have to say about it?"

Stephanie shot up and her pacing began again, "What did he say? He said nothing! He wanted nothing to do with me once he got with her. That bitch took him away from me!"

Emily realised she had probably convinced herself that her father wanted nothing to do with her due to the other woman….. Or maybe her mother had brainwashed her into thinking that. Maybe it was slightly less painful than admitting to herself that he just wanted nothing to do with her….. Her own father… And, in Stephanie's eyes, Emily had done just the same to her again with Derek…. Took away a man she loved.

"Stephanie—"

"Stop it! Just stop it! Stop talking to me!" Stephanie pulled the knife out and held it at arms length, "Everyone—! Everyone leaves me! And you…. you're going to pay for taking Derek away from me….. You're going to pay for them all!"


	22. Chapter 22

**Once again guys, thank you for all of the reviews…. It really does inspire me.**

JJ stood behind Garcia as she was trailing through camera footage in an attempt to track the movements of Stephanie's car. It was such a slow process, but absolutely vital whilst they had nothing else to go on.

JJ watched as the odd tear kept falling down her friend's face. It was all she could do to stop herself letting go as well, but they had to stay focused.

She rested a hand on Garcia's shoulder, "We'll find her Penelope." And she gave a little squeeze.

"I hope so or I'll never forgive myself for not telling Derek sooner about Stephanie."

"Hey, this is no-one's fault other than Stephanie's. We could never have guessed she'd do something so…. So extreme. Besides, Emily was adamant about not telling him and you know how stubborn that one can be."

That made Garcia chuckle softly, "Yeah you're right… do you remember my birthday? The one just before she left?"

JJ smiled as her thoughts wandered back to then.

"_Ladies….. here you go…. One Apple Martini for JJ…." Morgan said placing the cocktail in front of the blond. "…One Margarita for the birthday girl… and for you, a surprise." He said winking and handing Emily the tall glass with an unknown red liquid inside._

"_What's this?"_

"_It doesn't matter what it is Emily. Just try it. You'll like it."_

"_Why do you never get me what I ask for?"_

"_Because I know you and I know you like trying new things…. Just drink it." _

"_I think you're just trying to get me drunk."_

"_Now why would I do that?" He said, eyebrows raised. _

"_I have no idea Morgan, because it never works."_

_JJ and Garcia watched as the two Agents laughed together, their eyes locked. _

"_So have you had enough of those to get you up on that dance floor?" Morgan continued._

_Her response came as a slow shake of the head with a petulant smirk on her face._

_Their banter continued, both of them seeming to have forgotten the friends they came with. Eventually though, they were pulled out of their little world as a hyperactive Reid interrupted them._

"_Hey Morgan, come over here with me."_

"_What do you want kid?" The older Agent replied, sounding sarcastically frustrated._

"_I'm talking to this girl over there…. Look."_

_Reid pointed across the room to a table, where a long blond haired girl waved and smiled back to Reid. He responded with a wave back and a goofy smile. _

_Next to the blond was a darker haired girl, looking curiously over to where the Agents sat._

"_And….?" Morgan asked getting slightly annoyed._

"_Well, she has a friend." Reid slowly raised his eyebrows, a pathetic attempt to talk in code to Morgan._

"_I think he asking you to go be his 'wing man'', Emily said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes._

"_Reid, she's too young for me and I'm busy."_

"_What…..?" Reid exclaimed, "…..Since when is anyone of age too young for Derek Morgan? Come on I told her you'd come over." Reid was practically whining._

_Morgan turned from Reid to look at Emily as if searching for something._

_Her response was to wave him away, "Go Morgan, Reid needs all the help he can get."_

"_Hey!" Reid squealed._

_JJ and Garcia who had been watching the whole exchange between their three friends, looked at each other as they saw Morgan's mask slip slightly, for just a split second at the point Emily waved him on….._

_They studied Emily's face as Morgan did as she signalled and walked off over to the two waiting women…. She had the exact same look Morgan had had just a few seconds before…. Dejection. _

"_Hey lady." Garcia shouted to her friend, snapping her out of her trance._

_Emily turned and the mask was back up, a smile creeping across her face._

"_What?"_

_JJ and Garcia looked at her, both with a look a parent gives their child when they've been caught with their hand in the cookie jar._

"_What?" She repeated._

"_Gees Emily, when the hell are you two gonna get it on?" Garcia started._

"_Yeah, you've sat there flirting with him all night and now he's over there with someone else. You two are hopeless." JJ continued._

_Emily looked at her friends a little taken aback, "Well he seems quite happy to be with that someone else."_

_JJ scoffed, "Emily, he didn't want to go. You told him to. That was obvious."_

"_No it wasn't." She said, shuffling in her seat, her awkwardness not lost on either of the blondes._

"_Ok Emily, you keep telling yourself that, but there's only one person he's been interested in all night and that's you…. and you him for that matter."_

_The brunette was now lost for words. The alcohol was swirling round her head and her sharpness was gone. She couldn't find the right answer._

"_The sexual tension is so strong between you two, someone's gonna end up pregnant just being in the same room as the pair of you." JJ teased._

_Emily felt herself burning up._

"_Look JJ, our baddass agent is going red." Garcia continued_

_JJ smiled at Garcia and winked then looked back to Emily, "Derek and Emily sitting in a tree, K – I…." _

_JJ stopped as Emily held a hand up to her, "JJ you better stop right there or…."_

"_Or what Emily?" JJ giggled._

_The older agent rolled her eyes and downed the latest concoction Morgan had bought for her. _

"_I'm going to the bathroom." She said slamming the empty glass on the table in front of her._

_JJ held out her hand, "I bet you drinks for the rest of the night that Morgan watches every step you take across this room."_

_Emily couldn't help but laugh, "Whatever JJ."_

_As she walked away, the sway in her hips more exaggerated than usual, Garcia called out to her, "Strut that stuff missy!"_

_Emily walked across the room feeling several sets of eyes on her. She slyly looked out of the corner of her eye to where Morgan was and just as JJ said, there he was staring right at her. She made the rest of the distance with a big smile on her face._

_Watching their friends, Garcia muttered, "So, do you think they'll manage to sort it out on their own?"_

"_I don't know, but I don't fancy our chances if we interfere. May be we should leave them to it."_

_The two looked to each other and both shook their heads laughing._

A familiar voice pulled JJ out of her memories.

"JJ…."

"Hotch….."

She saw her old Unit Chief first, closely followed behind by Reid and Rossi. They was no time to ask how all three of them came together, but she knew not one of them would have let her, Derek or Emily down.

"Come this way." JJ said making her way to the office where she left Derek with the two detectives.

As they entered the room, the look of pain on Derek's face didn't escape any of his former colleagues. But they were quickly distracted by the older Detective.

"What's going on?" Simmons queried.

Hotch held out his hand to the Detective who shook it cautiously, "I'm Agent Hotchner, this is Dr Reid and Dave Rossi."  
"I don't follow. Why are you here?"

"Detective, we're not here to ambush you, but this is now a FBI case. Stephanie Burton is suspected of crimes across three different states. That makes this a federal case."

The Detective shook his head, "I knew something like this would happen."

"Look, I understand your frustration, but we all want the same thing… to find Agent Prentiss. With us on board there will be more resources at your disposal. This is not a slant on you or the investigation in any way. Now, can you bring us all up to speed please."

After giving the full briefing up till now, the two Detectives left the room, leaving a large chunk of the old BAU team together.

Hotch walked over to Morgan and took his hand into a shake, placing the other hand on his shoulder, "Morgan, we'll do everything in our power to bring her home safe ok?"

"I know Hotch and thanks for coming, all of you."

"There's nowhere else we'd be right now." Rossi said, attempting a reassuring smile.

"Right let's get to work." Hotch began. "…Reid go and work with Garcia, I want you to do some geographical analysis of Stephanie's movements before and after the abduction working in with the location of her house and any other places she frequents."

"Sure." Reid said, immediately turning and making his way out of the room.

"JJ, go through everything they have found at Stephanie's property pertaining to properties or other family members and cell phone data, then get Reid to add that into the geographical analysis."

"Sure Hotch." JJ replied, dutifully following in Reid's footsteps.

Before Hotch could restart, the retired Agent looked at Morgan, "Derek, no-one mentioned Dillon's interview. Has he had one yet?"

"No. I spoke to him at the house, but he was really upset Rossi."

"I understand that, but a few things didn't add up for me."

"Like what? Hotch asked.

"The handcuffs were in the cabinet in the hallway. Stephanie couldn't have known they were there so Emily must have got them for her. There was also no sign of a struggle, so it is highly probably those handcuffs were used without a fight from Emily. There's only one reason that would happen and that would be to protect Dillon right?"

Both of the other men nodded.

"I just think we need to know exactly what happened."

Hotch looked over to Morgan, "It's your call Derek. Do you think he'd handle a cognitive interview now?"

"I don't like it, but I know it's got to be done."

"Ok, Dave, can you take the interview. I need to go over a few things with Morgan.

"Sure. Derek, if it gets too much for him, I will stop. You have my word."

"Rossi, I know that. You don't have to tell me."

Rossi made his way over to the boy who had not moved from Garcia's side.

"Hey Dillon." He said bending down on one knee.

Dillon just stared at him.

"Do you remember me Dillon?"

He nodded his head, but remained silent.

Garcia turned, hearing the conversation.

"Dillon sweetie, do you remember his name?"

He looked at Garcia for a few seconds who nodded in encouragement.

"Uncle Dave." He whispered.

"Well done Dillon." Garcia said, smiling at him.

Rossi put one hand on his tiny arm, "Listen, your daddy asked me and some of his friends to come and help find mommy. Is it ok if I ask you some questions?"

Again the boy sat silent, looking to Garcia for permission.

"Dillon angel, go with Uncle Dave and I will be right here waiting for you when you finish ok?"

Dillon nodded his head slowly and then slid off the chair, taking hold of Rossi's outstretched hand and they walked off to one of the interview rooms.

Meanwhile, back in the office, Morgan sat, deflated with Hotch who was trying to figure out the right words to say.

"Listen, Derek, there's no-one here that understands more what you are going through right now than me."

Morgan slowly raised his head, "Hayley." He whispered.

Hotch swallowed. The pain had never gone away, "You know, just because that turned out the way it did doesn't mean the same will happen here."

"It could do though… Hotch, I feel like this is all my fault. I should have known right? I mean this is what I do for a living…. Figuring people out."

"You're right, there's no guarantees, but we have to keep fighting until we know for sure what has happened, and you will not find a more committed group of people to find Emily."

"I know."

"And sometimes Derek, we don't see what's right under our nose. Or may be she didn't show any signs at all. It sounds like she has been able to live large periods of her life seemingly normal and then something trigger's this rage. You are not a mind reader. None of us are that, no matter how good profilers."

Morgan shook his head, "But Dillon Hotch. What about Dillon? How do I even begin to…. "

Hotch cut him off, "Don't even think about that right now. Let's concentrate on this."

Morgan, as distressed as he was, could see the pain deep in Hotch's eyes. He knew this must be causing him to relive every second of that nightmare with Foyet.

Before Morgan could say anything further, Rossi walked back in.

"How'd it go?" Hotch immediately asked.

"Fine… Morgan, Dillon's ok… That's one smart kid you got there."

"Thanks. That's down to Emily." The two older men heard Morgan's voice break as he said Emily's name, but continued.

"Ok, so what can you tell us?" Hotch asked.

"Well it looks like Stephanie's plan was to take Dillon, not Emily."

"What?" Morgan snorted, "We assumed she had threatened to hurt Dillon to get Emily to go with her."

"No, it looks like she was taking Dillon to hurt Emily. Emily managed to convince her that taking Dillon would make you angry and to take her instead."

"So you think she would of hurt Dillon?" Derek's world was in even more of a spin, questioning more and more this woman he had spent two years of his life with.

"That I don't know." Rossi answered.

Hotch quickly began, "But this is useful. It means firstly that it is possible to negotiate with her. Emily managed to do that to get her to take her instead. She could of done something to Emily in the house, but she decided not to. Secondly, that Stephanie thinks that there is still a chance for you and her Derek, otherwise she wouldn't have been bothered that you would be angry at her for taking Dillon."

"She is completely delusional then." Derek growled.

At that point Reid and JJ walked in….

Without needing to be asked, Reid started, "Guys, we've analysed the highway camera footag."

"And I got Stephanie's cell phone records…. We got cell site analysis to show where she had been over the past few days." JJ added.

"Basically, putting everything together, it shows she has been going along this highway back and forth." Reid said pointing to a map. "…. The cell phone signal drops off here and then picks up back here anything from half an hour to a couple of hours later. Same for the camera footage."

"So what does that mean?" Morgan asked desperately.

Again indicating on the map, "All this area here is farm land. There are a number of different farm buildings… a few hundred acres of land. There's no cell phone masts, hence why the signal drops out. This is our best guess as to where she is."

The whole room turned to look at Morgan who was putting his jacket on and picked up his car keys from the desk.

"What are you doing?" Hotch asked.

"I'm going out there."

"But the area's too big, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. The probability of you finding where she is is…" Reid stopped as Morgan held his hand up to him.

"Kid, please don't start with that. I know the chances of me finding her are slim, but I can't stay here anymore….." He looked to Hotch, "….. I can't breathe in here. I gotta get out. At least I'll be near by if you get anymore information."

Hotch nodded, knowing he'd do exactly the same in Morgan's shoes.

"Ok go, but not on your own…. Dave, JJ, you go with him. We'll keep working through everything we got here and try to narrow the search."

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"Stop it! Just stop it! Stop talking to me!" Stephanie pulled the knife out and held it at arms length, "Everyone—! Everyone leaves me! And you…. you're going to pay for taking Derek away from me….. You're going to pay for them all!"

As Stephanie started to close the gap between them, Emily shouted… She knew she couldn't defend herself physically.

"I can help you get him back Stephanie."

The woman stopped dead in her tracks, just a few inches away.

"What are you talking about?"

"Derek…. If you want him back. I can help you."

"Why would you do that?"

"For my son. I'd do anything for him."

"You'd give Derek up?"

Emily gulped. Inside hating herself for saying the words. But they didn't mean anything. She just needed to convince Stephanie long enough to figure out a way out of this.

"Yes." She whispered.

Stephanie's face relaxed as the thoughts were racing through her head. Of course she had always thought of ways to get Derek back, but never thought the answer may lie with Emily' help. This was an interesting proposition.

"How cold you help me?"

Emily shook her head, desperately trying to think, "I could tell him I met someone else or that I made that stuff up about you because I was jealous….?"

Stephanie stood upright and looked down upon Emily, "I need to think."

"Ok." Emily said, breathing a sigh of relief inside…. For now anyway.

She watched as Stephanie suddenly rubbed her own arms, feeling the cold breeze on her skin as the sun had disappeared.

"I'm going to get firewood from out back."

"What? We're staying here?" Emily questioned.

"Look I have to figure out what to do with you. I need to think this through properly. Don't even think about moving whilst I'm outside. If you try and run you'll get nowhere fast, especially in those. It's dark and we're surrounded by nothing."

Emily nodded to the other woman and then watched as she left through the door. After a few seconds Emily cautiously got up and looked out of the window to see Stephanie heading towards the small barn about twenty feet away.

She knew this was her chance….. Emily rushed into the hallway and awkwardly picked up the receiver of the old style phone with her hands behind her back. Placing it on the side she closed her eyes and imagined the keypad in her head. She had to get this right. This was her one shot. Feeling for the raised bump indicating the number five on the keypad, she dialled Derek's cell number. She picked up the received and balanced it on top of the phone so at a distance it didn't look like it had been moved. She then turned and bent down to see if she could hear anything. Closing her eyes again to heighten her hearing she heard a couple of rings and then that voice that made her want to scream his name, but she didn't have time. She knew he'd know it was her.

Trying to fight the tears, from the effects of his familiar tone, she rushed back across the room and returned to her spot. She took some deep breaths in an attempt to slow her heart rate. She knew if that had gone wrong it would more than likely been the end of her.

Now all she could do was pray…..

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	23. Chapter 23

**Thanks again for all your lovely reviews…and special thanks to Sara Nublas for being my very patient beta…. Hope you all enjoy. R&R and let me know.**

Garcia sat at the computer with Reid and Hotch standing behind her, going through the data she was bringing up regarding Stephanie's recent movements. Suddenly a little sniffle distracted her and she looked down to her right hand side where Dillon was sat, still holding the Star Wars figures. He wasn't playing though. He just sat, head down and Garcia never would have noticed he was crying if it weren't for the tear she saw land on the back of his perfect little hand, leaving the tiniest of wet patches.

"Hey Dillon sweetie…."

The boy looked up at her, his big brown eyes staring back, full of tears. He had been silently crying, immediately making Garcia feel guilty as hell for not noticing before.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, "Garcia, we got this. Take him away from this chaos for a bit." Hotch said softly.

Not needing to be told twice, she immediately got up and picked Dillon off the chair, pulling him in tight to her chest.

"Come on sweetie, let's get you out of here."

She carried him to one of the soft interview rooms made especially for children. Even though there were toys and a sofa in there, something still felt so clinical about it. These rooms could speak of so much misery, but it was the best they had.

Sitting on the sofa, she sat Dillon on her lap and put her arms tightly around him.

"Dillon? Talk to me sweetie."

He didn't move his little arms from around her neck and she could feel the wetness from his tears on her collarbone.

She held him for a while and then tried again, "Dillon, it's ok, tell me what's wrong."

She felt him taking a breath and then the smallest of voices began to talk, "I want my mommy." And just as he finished his sentence his voice broke and the sobs came again.

"I know baby. She'll be back soon."

He pushed himself back so he could see Garcia's face.

"You promise?" He said between sniffs.

Garcia's conscience was working overdrive. She knew she couldn't promise this. The boy had to trust her, so instead she smiled and looked him in the eyes, "Do you know what I used to do when I missed your mommy when the two of you were in Canada?"

He just stared at her.

"Well I talked about all the things that she did that made me happy. Let's do that."

Still staring, Dillon gave a little shrug of the shoulders.

"Ok, I'll start… Your mommy makes me happy when she gives me a big hug to say hello." Garcia said, almost feeling the warmth of Emily's hug around her.

"I like it when mommy hugs me too."

"I know you do… Can you remember the last time your mommy made you happy sweetie?"

He paused, looking up to the ceiling, contemplating his answer, "Mommy makes me happy every day."

Garcia took a deep breath trying to stop her own tears, "Tell me."

"She makes me pancakes for breakfast and draws funny faces on them with chocolate sauce…and if we have them she uses marshmallows for eyes and a nose."

Garcia smiled and said softly, "What else…."

"And when I go to bed, mommy tickles me which makes me laugh and she tells me stories with silly voices."

"Really? What's your favourite story?"

"Uhmmm…. Well when daddy had to work all the time and we didn't see him, mommy used to tell me a story about daddy being like superman and he'd beat all the baddies and then fly from work and come to see us and play with us…... That's my favourite…"

A small smile started to creep across his little face.

"….And the other day she let me go and wake daddy up by jumping on him and blowing raspberries on his face. At first he was grouchy, but then me and mommy gave him a kiss and he was happy. Mommy's kisses always make daddy happy."

It was clear that this child was happiest with both his mommy and daddy in his life. Garcia ached inside, praying that this wouldn't be taken from him so soon. For now, she would fight back her tears and fears and let Dillon carry on remembering the good times. It was making him happy… for now anyway… it wouldn't be long before he remembered that neither his mommy or daddy were here right now.

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Rossi, Morgan and JJ alighted the SUV to look out upon the expanse of farm land. Rossi watched as Morgan surveyed the scene and then turned and kicked the tyre of the SUV.

"Hey Morgan."

"Look Rossi….." Morgan started pointing to the wide open space that seemed to go on forever. "…..Where do we even start? This is hopeless!"

"We just need to sit tight and wait for Reid and Hotch to come up with something else."

JJ joined them, "What about asking for a helicopter to search for Stephanie's car?"

Rossi shook his head, "Too risky. If she spots it, she'll know we're on to her and could panic. We need the element of surprise."

After a few seconds of silence, JJ and Rossi both turned to see Morgan with his shoulders slouched and his head hung.

"Morgan?" JJ said softly.

He shook his head, "I can't lose her JJ. Not now. It was perfect…. me, her, Dillon. I don't want him to go through what I went through and I can't do this on my own. I don't want to. I just want herback…. now." He was struggling to get his breath and just as JJ was about to say something Morgan's cell rang out.

Snatching it from his pocket in anticipation of further information from Hotch, he looked at the screen and frowned at the unknown number.

"Hello…..?" He looked at Rossi and JJ and shook his head, "…..No-one's on the other end."

The realisation struck him as both JJ and Rossi's eyes widened.

"Hello….." he continued, "….Emily?"

Without taking the phone away from his ear he looked to the blond, "JJ, call Garcia, get her to put a trace on my phone now."

"Sure." She said, her finger already on speed dial to the techie.

"Can you hear anything?" Rossi asked

"Nothing…. This has to be her right?" The desperation in his voice not lost on Rossi.

"Good chance it is. Just keep listening."

Two minutes later, Garcia had a trace on Morgan's phone.

"JJ, the number is a land line number….. " Reid started. "…. Garcia is tracing it now. Should have something in a few seconds. Me and Hotch are heading out to you."

"Ok, but hurry. Once we have a location, it's not gonna be easy stopping Morgan."

"I know. We won't be long… I'm not driving." JJ let a little smirk appear across her face, but quickly bought herself back to the reality of the situation.

"Anything?" JJ said as she cut the call off from Reid and walked over to Morgan and Rossi.

"No, I can't here anything. Have we got a location yet?"

"Should be with us shortly. Hotch and Reid are on there way."

At that point JJ's phone beeped. The three of them looked down and saw a map with a farm house pin pointed.

"Ok let's go." Morgan said, jumping in to the SUV.

As Rossi climbed in to the passenger seat, he said calmly, "Morgan, you know we should wait for Hotch?"

"I know, let's just get to the rendezvous point. I'm not going to do anything stupid Rossi."

Within ten minutes the team were at the RVP, all stood around the bonnet of the SUV looking at a large map of the area.

"Ok, the local cops are situated here, here and here… " Hotch said pointing to several points on the perimeter of the land on the map. "They are completely out of sight, but if she makes a run for it, she can't get away."

"So it's just us going to the building?" Rossi asked

"Yes." Hotch stated.

"We're going on foot right? She'll hear the SUVs way before we're anywhere near." Morgan continued.

Hotch looked round at all of his former colleagues, "Yeah. You all ready?"

A round of nods came, all of them knowing what was at stake.

Darkness was already setting in as they made their way through the wooded land and by the time they were in view of the building, the only light was from the moon, stars and the solitary light coming from the farm house.

Laying low, hidden by the terrain, Hotch gathered the team once again. As he was whispering he looked to Morgan, "Is that line still open?"

Putting his cell to his ear, he listened for a few seconds, "Yeah, I can hear muffled voices, but I can't make out what's being said."

"Ok, Morgan and I will get up close and see what we can see inside. The rest of you get as close as possible without being seen and wait for my signal. If I say go, it means into the building. Clear?" the ex-Unit Chief said.

Hotch and Morgan watched the shadows moving around in the house carefully, waiting for the right moment to sprint to the side of the house. They made it to the window of the room in which the light was coming from and ducked down below the base of the glass.

Morgan very slowly raised his head to peak above the base frame, looking into the large sitting room. He saw Stephanie sat with her back to him on the chair nearest to the window. Then he saw her…. Emily. His heart skipped a beat in both fear and relief at the same time. She didn't appear injured, but he could see she was shackled behind her back.

Ducking back down, he whispered to Hotch, "They're both in there. Stephanie has her back to us and Emily is sideways on."

"We need to let her know we're here."

"Stephanie is right next to the window. If we make any noise she will hear."

"Use your torch…." Hotch whispered.

Emily sat occasionally glancing at the woman to her side. She could see Stephanie was deep in thought and wished she could read her mind right now. Trying to think of anything but the two boys in her life for fear she would break down in to tears, she concentrated on figuring out a plan if no-one came for her. As she did, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. She glanced to her left hand side, without moving her head and saw it again…. It was a flash. Immediately she felt her heart start to beat faster. She took some deep breaths within, trying her best to hide her body's movement from Stephanie.

She slowly let her eyes wander back to the window and it took all her strength not to scream out upon seeing his face.

She closed her eyes momentarily to calm herself, then opened them to take another glance towards Derek. She could see the light of his cell phone in the window and then gave the smallest of nods to let him know she had understood.

Looking back once more, he had gone. She looked over to Stephanie and tried to find her voice, hiding the nervousness.

"Stephanie?"

Her head snapped upwards, meeting Emily's stare, "What?"

"Can I get up to stretch my legs… just to walk across the room. I won't do anything stupid. I can't…"

Stephanie paused for a few seconds and then replied, "Ok, but if you pull one strange move, I won't hesitate in using this." She said holding up the knife as a harsh reminder of just what Emily was up against.

As Emily stood herself up, Stephanie followed suit and watched as the Agent slowly walked across the room. Emily did a lap of the room and then stopped looking into the hallway.

"What are you looking at?" Stephanie asked suspiciously.

"Just that painting….Over there."

Emily signalled with her head to an old oil painting hanging above the telephone.

"What about it?"

"Is it real?"

"How the hell would I know?" The frustration in her voice not escaping Emily.

"Can I take a look?"

Stephanie leant her head to the side as if trying to figure Emily out. What possible harm could there be in her looking at a painting she thought.

"OK."

Stephanie followed as Emily made her way into the hallway and stood below the painting.

"No… it's not real…." Emily said matter of factly. "…. Who lives here anyway?"

"Hotch, I can hear them talking." Morgan whispered with his cell to his ear.

"Put it on speaker, but quiet. She won't hear if they're over by the phone."

"_No-one. Not anymore….." _They heard Stephanie's voice_. "…..Let's go back."_

"_Stephanie?" _

Hearing Emily's voice made Morgan's heart race.

"_What?"_

"_Have you thought about what I said…. About me helping you get Derek back?"_

Morgan looked at Hotch wide eyed.

"You know she doesn't mean it." The older Agent reassured.

"I know." He muttered, just needing to hear it out loud.  
Both men looked back to the cell phone,

"_I don't know." _

"_Don't you want him back? I thought that's what all this had been about the last few months?"_

"_It was, but… What was that!"_

Morgan and Hotch both turned around hearing a clattering coming from the other side of the property.

Emily turned around, "I don't know… may be a wild animal or something…"

"You're lying! What's going on!"

Stephanie's mood changed as if she'd flipped a switch. Emily could see the rage in her eyes.

"Nothing…. I don't know." Emily lied.

Holding the knife in front of her, reminding Emily of her predicament, Stephanie took two strides towards Emily…"What did you do!"

Before she could lay hands on Emily, she felt an almighty force hit her stomach causing her to fly backwards, thanks to the Agent's foot. Stephanie was quick to find her feet and ran after Emily who had turned and was making her way to the door, somewhat slowed down having her hands bound behind her back. Stephanie threw her arms around Emily's chest and pulled her backwards.

With one arm now around Emily and the other holding the knife to her neck, Stephanie whispered into Emily's ear with venom, "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you."

As Emily felt the cold tip of the metal on her neck, she closed her eyes waiting for the pain,

"Stephanie! Stop!"

Stephanie spun them both round to the source of the voice. She was holding Emily so tightly to her own body, that taking a shot at her would be too risky… It would more than likely hit Emily too.

"Derek?"

There he was stood in front of them both, hands raised in the air.

"Derek… what are you doing here… How?" Stephanie said dumbfounded.

"Steph, that doesn't matter right now. Just put the knife down and we can talk ok?"

"What do you want to talk about Derek? You're only here because of _her_."

Derek allowed himself to look into Emily's eyes only briefly for fear of faltering.

"No Steph. I'm here because I don't want you to make the biggest mistake of your life. If you do this you know will go to prison forever right?"

"What do you care? You left me. Remember?"

"Steph, I do care."

"I don't believe you. You just tossed me aside like I didn't matter when she showed up."

Morgan closed his eyes, trying to make the feeling of guilt go away and let him focus. Not the guilt for what he did to Stephanie, but the guilt of what doing that had bought on Emily and his son.

"I'm sorry Steph….." He whispered.

He looked her in the eyes, pleading with her to believe him. She looked back at him, questioningly. She looked downwards and her chest rose as she took in a deep breath causing the tip of the blade to press a little harder on Emily's beautiful skin.

Stephanie slowly returned her gaze to him and then spoke, "You're sorry? So did you ever love me Derek?"

Looking briefly to Emily's face he saw her give him a little smile, telling him it was ok.

"Of course I did. I still do."

"You still love me?"

Morgan felt his entire body rise in temperature. He hated this. Saying that to someone was so precious. Emily was the only one he ever wanted to say those words to for the rest of his life.

"I….." He stuttered.

"But you never told me you loved me before." Stephanie questioned with an angry, suspicious tone.

He could feel Emily's stare on him. He knew what she wanted him to do, but he was struggling with his words.

"I know Steph… It's not that easy for me. But now…"

"So if you love me, how can you ask _her_ to marry you?"

Emily watched his face and the pain glaring out from it. She knew he wanted so desperately to get this right.

"He asked because he was scared of losing his son…. Right Derek?" Emily said.

The words shocked him and he couldn't help now but looking right into her eyes, watching as they widened. She forced a little smile and ever so slightly nodded to him.

"I guess so." He replied.

Emily continued, using this opportunity to put her mind at rest, just a little. "Is Dillon ok?" The sadness now consuming her eyes and her voice slightly broken.

"Yeah, he's good. He's with Penelope." He smiled to her.

"That's enough." Stephanie ordered, shoving Emily slightly in the back.

"So…. Tell me why you cheated on me… Why Derek? Why did you do that?" The hurt and frustration in her voice growing.

Before he could speak, Emily got in first trying to deflect the anger off him. She needed Stehpanie to believe and trust Derek, "It was me. I pushed him."

Derek looked at her, slightly frowning, trying to hide his worry.

"Well that doesn't surprise me…..." Stephanie said matter of factly. "Why did you do it?"

Emily swallowed hard and looked into Derek's eyes, her face slightly grimacing as the knife's point dug into her skin, "I did it because I wanted Dillon to have the father he deserves. I brought him up for four years on my own, but there was always something missing for him. Derek is a good man…. It wasn't fair that Dillon was missing out. I knew he would be a wonderful father. He _is_ an incredible father." She smiled as she finished and she could see in his eyes he was fighting to not smile back.

"So you just thought you'd come back and pick up from where you left off?"

"I guess." Emily whispered, the dejection in her voice apparent.

"And screw anyone else that got in the way?"

"It wasn't like that Steph." Derek interrupted.

"What was it like then?"

"I just wanted to do what was right by my son. I guess…" He took another deep breath to help him say the words, "…..I guess I lost sight of how I felt about you Steph, but if you'll let me, I can try and make it up to you."

Stephanie stood silent for a few seconds allowing Derek the opportunity to look at his fiancé. They locked eyes, the way they used to when out in the field together, knowing that what they were doing was just a means to an end. Although they both knew it, they still needed to see the validation in each other's eyes.

They were quickly pulled out of their stare as Stephanie began once again, "So you are saying that you are just with her because of Dillon?"

He couldn't say it, so he just nodded.

"And you don't love her?"

He shook his head slowly.

"Say it Derek! I want to hear you say it!"

He looked straight into Stephanie's eyes. He couldn't bring himself to even glance at Emily.

He growled the words, "No Steph. I don't love her."

The smallest of smirks appeared across Stephanie's face and Derek saw her spirit change then and there. This was not good.

"So you won't care if she's gone then!"

"No Steph please!"

"You said you don't love her… So why do you care?"

"Because….. Because she's Dillon's mother. He doesn't deserve to grow up without her. He hasn't done anything wrong. She is everything to him. His world."

He realised he was looking straight at Emily when he said those words and what he was really saying was that she was the mother of his child. That _he_ didn't want to grow old without her and that she was everything to _him_. _His _world.

Stephanie shook her head. "With her around this will never work."

"It can…." He said pleadingly.

"No I don't believe you. You're just saying these things."

"I'm not Steph. Please." The desperation in his voice wasn't lost on either woman.

"Say your goodbyes Derek."

Knowing that the battle of words was lost with the crazed woman, as the knife twitched in her hand, Derek glanced to the figure stood a few feet behind the unsuspecting Stephanie and gave a small nod. He looked back to Emily, her recognising that look, and she braced herself.

"Stephanie!" A voice shouted out.

As Stephanie was distracted for a split second, Emily elbowed the woman in her stomach and dropped her body weight so she slid from her grip. Before she hit the ground she felt Derek's hands on her pulling her away.

As Stephanie's focus returned to Emily, she went to lunge forward but a shot could be heard echoing around the old farm house before she could move barely an inch. A bullet ripped through her chest and she fell to the ground lying in a motionless heap.

As Derek held on to Emily tightly, not wanting to let her go, he whispered into her ear, "God I love you so much. I'm sorry."

She pushed her body further into his, exhausted and frustrated that she was unable to wrap her arms around him. He felt her warm breath on his neck as her muffled voice whispered, "I love you too," back to him.

Not breaking the embrace, Derek looked over Emily's shoulder to JJ. He smiled and thanked her with his eyes. She gave a small nod and smiled back at him, breathing a sigh of relief that her shooting skills hadn't failed her that day.

As Emily caught her breath, she sat herself up and turned to see her friends all stood in an arc behind where Stephanie had been stood. She realised at that point that they had been there the whole time.

She smiled and then thought to herself…. _Where else would they have been?_


	24. Chapter 24

**So I thought I'd end this story here…. I hope you enjoy the last chapter.**

"Em, I really think we should take you to the hospital. Just get checked over quickly." JJ stated for the third time, turning around in the front seat of the SUV to look back at Emily.

"JJ, I'm not hurt. I told you. She didn't touch me."

"No, she just held a knife to your throat Emily." Morgan said a little sarcastically.

She shifted in her seat to face him, "Derek, I just wanna see Dillon ok? I'm fine honestly." Her eyes were pleading with him to leave it alone.

"Ok." He whispered, moving his hand to lay on top of hers. She looked down to his hand and then back to his face, giving him a small thankful smile and then turned to look out the window of the moving car.

The car fell silent for a minute or so. JJ kept glancing in the rear view mirror, watching Morgan watching Emily. He hadn't taken his eyes off her the whole journey so far.

The blond agent turned to face her friend again, "I spoke to Garcia before we got in the car. Dillon is absolutely fine you know."

"I know…." Emily's slightly broken voice started. "….. I know Pen would take care of him." But she didn't move her gaze from out of the window.

From the moment Stephanie had taken her she had fought this vision, but now all she could see was Dillon's face the last time she saw him… so scared. Pleading for his mommy to go to him and not leave him. The backs of her eyes began to sting and she squeezed them tight to stop her sadness pouring out. She felt Morgan's fingers gently tracing along her knee and felt his stare that had not left her the whole journey. She couldn't look at him though, because she knew if she did he would give her that look. That look that said he loved her and was worried about her and that look would break her. She didn't want to look broken when she saw her son. She wanted to be strong for him. Instead of facing Morgan, she sought out his fingers and slipped hers in between them, not letting go until they made it to the station.

When they did, Emily followed JJ through the building with Derek at her side until they got to the soft interview room. Walking in she said Dillon's name softly but it was like an alarm had gone off. Before she knew it he had slipped off Garcia's lap and had jumped up to her, burying his face in her neck.

Derek watched as the boy sobbed and Emily finally gave in and the tears fell silently down her face.

"Derek, they're both safe now. It's ok." Garcia whispered to him, touching him lightly on his arm.

She watched as he nodded slowly, but unconvincingly.

"I'll leave you to it." The techie said, closing the door as she left the room.

"Hey sweetie…" Emily started softly. "It's ok. I'm back now."

"I missed you mommy." He cried into her neck.

"I missed you too. But I was always coming back. I would never leave you. You know that right?"

She felt him nod. "Daddy said he was going to find you. That's why he had to go."

She looked over Dillon's shoulder to Derek and at that point she could see the guilt whirling around his eyes.

"Come here." She said patting the fabric of the sofa next to her as she sat down and placed Dillon on her lap.

He did as she said and once he was sat next to her he moved his hand to wipe the tears from her face. She hadn't even noticed them. She took hold of his hand and squeezed it in hers.

"Listen to me. This was not your fault Derek."

He looked to her then looked down, "It is though. If I hadn't gone to see her….."

"Hey, if you hadn't gone to see her, something else would have triggered it eventually. She wasn't right."

"Exactly. I should have realised."

She shook her head, "No Derek. No you couldn't. You made her happy, that was clear when I talked to her, and so long as she was happy that side of her would never have shown."

"Yeah but….." She stopped him by putting one finger to his lips, "Stop it Derek. Stop beating yourself up over this. I'm safe and so is Dillon. I never doubted you would come for me and I promise you I don't think this is your fault in any way ok?"

She smiled as he looked at her and nodded. Both of their attention was drawn away as they heard Dillon's little voice.

"Mommy?"

"Yes baby." Emily replied quietly.

"Can you and me and daddy watch Bednobs and Broomsticks when we get home?"

Derek and Emily looked at each other and let a small laugh escape.

"See, he's fine…." She started as she stood up. "…..Dillon, go to daddy."

She passed him over and they began to walk out of the room.

"Mommy? You know I said Daddy said he would find you and bring you home? I helped too."

"Well I am lucky having two such brave boys aren't I? I guess you both deserve a treat tonight don't you?"

"Ice cream?" Dillon asked.

Emily looked to Derek, "Ice cream do you?"

"And pizza." He said.

She couldn't help but smile as they both had the same questioning look on their faces.

As they walked out of the station, she figured that none of them would get over the days events so easily, but she knew that as long as it was the three of them, it wouldn't beat them.

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It was seven the next morning when Dillon ran into Derek and Emily's room, jumping on the bed. He didn't say anything, just lay on top of a sleeping Emily and threw his little arms around her neck.

"Hey baby." She said sleepily, beginning to stir.

"Hi mommy,"

"You sleep ok sweetie?"

"Uh huh."

She kissed his forehead and stroked the back of his head, "You hungry?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, why don't you go downstairs and feed Toby and I'll be down in a minute."

"And daddy?"

"Sure. And daddy."

She felt him hesitate and squeeze her a little tighter. Wrapping her arms around him, they lay in silence for a little while. She took in his sweet scent and knew she'd never forget this feeling. She never wanted to.

"Sweetie…." She whispered, "….. Go put some cartoons on the TV and I'll be down in a few minutes….. I promise."

"Ok mommy." He lifted his head and gave her a small peck on the lips before jumping off the bed and running out of the bedroom. She smiled as she heard him calling out for Toby as he went down the stairs.

She rolled on her side and let her arm snake around Derek's waist, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck. She felt his hand lightly stroke her back.

"You're awake then?" She whispered.

He let out a small groan.

"You have to get up. You have orders from your son."

"I don't wanna wake up. I was having a great dream." His raspy voice mumbled.

"Oh yeah, what was it about?"

"Well, I had this hot, beautiful brunette in my bed and she had her arms wrapped around me…."

"And?"

"And I could feel her warm breath on me."

"Then what happened?"

"Then she kissed my neck…."

"Like this?"

He closed his eyes as he felt the softness of her lips on his skin, exploring her way from the base of his ear down to his pulse point.

"Then what?" She breathed into him.

"Then she moved up to my cheek."

She placed feather light kisses all along the one side of his jawline, eventually planting one sweet, long kiss on his cheek. Lifting her head to look at him, she watched his trance for a few seconds until he slipped out of it and opened his eyes to meet her smiling face.

"Then?" She uttered.

"Then this….." He lifted his head and closed the distance between them kissing her sweetly on the lips. As the kiss became more searching, they both melted into it, the events of the past few days momentarily forgotten.

"So….." she mumbled, not breaking the kiss, "…. You get some from this brunette?"

She felt him nod his head.

Pulling out of the kiss, she smirked at him, "Well, it can't be me because this brunette has to get up to get your son some breakfast."

He closed his eyes and scrunched up his face with the look of a child having his favourite toy taken away.

She kissed him on the tip of his nose, "Come on, we have to get up."

As she went to move away from him, he pulled her back into him.

"What?" She asked.

He looked deep into her eyes, "Marry me."

Chuckling, she looked at him a little confused, "Derek, you already asked me that and I already said yes remember?" And she wiggled the rock on her finger in front of him.

"I know, but I don't want to wait. Let's just get married."

She stared at him for a few seconds and then kissed him quickly on his mouth, "Listen, I'm not going anywhere, ring or no ring Derek."

"I know, I just want you to be Mrs Morgan like now."

She gave a little laugh, "Ok, we'll talk about it later but we have to get up now…"

As she got up, he took hold of her hand and held on as she went to walk away. Turning back to look at him, she pulled on his hand, "Come on get up….. or that brunette won't be making any more appearances in your dreams for a while."

"Ooh that's harsh woman." He said as he threw the sheets aside and followed Emily's lead.

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Garcia sat next to JJ holding a pack of tissues in front of her in the grounds of the Grand Park Hotel. She, along with everyone else turned as the music started. A big smile crept across her face as she watched Dillon walking along the blue velvet like walkway. His face was almost a frown as he looked intently at the cushion he was balancing on his hands. His upper body wobbled as he took small steps, concentrating hard on putting one foot in front of the other.

Catching Garcia's eye, Derek winked at her and then went back to watching his son with an amused smile. The smile soon turned into one of both pride and nerves as he looked up to see Emily behind Dillon holding the arm of her father. He felt his breaths deepen watching the ivory dress sway as she moved, her slender leg peeping out of the knee high slit upon every second step.

His eyes remained fixed on hers as she took the final few steps towards him and he swallowed hard as he felt her cold hand take hold of his. Placing a hand on Dillon's head, he guided him backwards so he was stood in the middle of them both as the registrar began.

Everything was a blur until Derek heard the prompt from the registrar for him to begin. He looked Emily in the eyes and took a deep breath. He almost forgot to release the breath until he saw her smile and ever so slightly nod her head in encouragement.

After swallowing hard, he started in a deep, choked voice,

"Emily….. You are everything I want and everything I need. I can now safely say that all of my dreams have come true. You have stolen my heart and I never want you to give it back. I promise that as long as I am on this planet I will love you and you will never walk it alone. Thank you for giving me Dillon and thank you for giving me a life that once I thought I could have only ever dreamed of."

Emily felt her heart beat pounding in her chest as Derek finished his words. She had managed to maintain a façade of togetherness so far, but she could feel it start to slip as her time to speak was creeping up on her. She couldn't believe how nervous she was just saying a few words. Her eyes bore into Derek's, wanting him to save her somehow, and they widened as she felt his hand squeeze hers. He leant in and whispered, "Now isn't the time for second thoughts Em."

She shook her head and quickly whispered back, "No, I'm not…."

She stopped as she saw his smiling face, "I know baby. Go on, it's ok." He uttered.

She smiled back focusing on him and him alone.

"Derek…. You have shown me how it feels to be loved and respected, despite my flaws and you make me feel safe. You are the most amazing, caring and selfless man I have ever known and I am the luckiest girl alive to have you in my life….. For the rest of my life. I can't wait to take the next part of my journey with you and Dillon. You are my best friend and I am in love with you more than you could possibly know."

After the rings were exchanged and they shared their first kiss as husband and wife, Derek picked Dillon up. Before the three of them could move, they were surrounded, firstly by JJ, Garcia and Derek's sisters, quickly followed by the rest of the small gathering of family and friends.

Later that evening, Derek glanced across the hotel lounge where the wedding party was in full swing. He caught his bride's attention, signalling with his eyes towards the door and she nodded in understanding.

He took her hand and led her to a bench in the middle of the night covered garden.

"You ok?" He asked as they sat.

"Yeah I'm good." She smiled.

"I know you didn't want a big fuss, but today was ok right?"

She shifted her body so she was facing him right on, "I think with the mixture of your mama and sisters and JJ and Garcia, this was the least fuss today was ever going to be. But, it was perfect. I loved it."

"Me too." He whispered as he pulled an envelope out of his pocket.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Don't know yet. Your father gave it me."  
"My father? But they already gave us so much and paid for the wedding."

"I know…. Here, you wanna open it?"

She opened the envelope and pulled out the piece of paper inside.

"Wow, two weeks in a five star hotel in Dubai for the three of us."

He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Did you already know about this Derek?" She said suspiciously.

"Sort of. Your father asked me when would be best to book something. I didn't know where though. Dubai is pretty amazing….." He chucked, "Something tells me they've been waiting for this day for a long time Emily. To spoil you I mean. You deserve it."

He kissed her on the forehead as she read further…. "So I take it you couldn't get time off for a couple of months then?" The disappoint in her voice making him smile.

"No….. No I couldn't. However, remember that weekend I told you about? The one where Garcia said she'd have Dillon for us?"

Rolling her eyes and with a little smirk she said, "The dirty one you mean?"

"Yeah that one….." He winked, "…. We go on Friday."

She gave a small laugh and leant in closer to kiss him sweetly, before resting against his body, his arm around her shoulders.

"So wifey….. "

"Er don't call me wifey." She interrupted before he could finish the sentence.

"Ok Mrs Morgan." He chuckled.

"Oh my god I'm Mrs Morgan." He heard her giggle, pulling her in tighter to him as she did.

**So, this is the end. I'm kind of sad to finish this story but I think it's come to it****s natural conclusion (unless anyone has any bright ideas as to where it should go… I am really sad to finish it…. Ridiculous I know!). Thank you so much for all the reviews and your opinions on it. It has made it such fun to write. 24 chapters isn't bad for a story that was only supposed to be a couple.**


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